● The most effective way to protect homes from fire:
– Home hardening
– Creation of defensible space up to 100 feet
● Our forests are being targeted for extraction in the name of fire resilience
– Clearing trees beyond 100 feet can exacerbate the spread of wind-driven fires
– Causes immense damage to forest ecosystems, and worsens the climate crisis
● Biomass energy is being touted as a way to use wood “waste”/slash resulting from all the cutting
– Biomass energy uses whole trees and is highly polluting
– Serious health impacts disproportionately affect low- income communities
– Not renewable!
– Not carbon neutral; will only exacerbate our climate crisis
95% of the wildfires that destroy homes and communities are caused by flying embers. There is substantial evidence, e.g. from Dr. Jack Cohen, and Dr. Alexandra Syphard, both featured in the movie Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire, that by far the best way to protect homes from wind-driven fires caused by flying embers is through home hardening and the maintenance of defensible space up to 100 ft. away.