Glendale (PDF) - Hazard Mitigation Web Portal - State of California

Natural Hazards Mitigation PlanCity of Glendale, CaliforniaSection 7 – WildfiresCommunity Wildfire IssuesWhat is Susceptible to Wildfire?The hills and mountainous areas of southern California are considered to be at theurban/wildland interface. The development of homes and other structures has encroached andwill continue to encroach onto the wildlands, expanding the urban/wildland interface areas.The neighborhoods at the interface are characterized by a diverse mixture of housing structures,development patterns, ornamental and natural vegetation, and natural fuels. In the event of awildfire, this diverse mixture of vegetation, structures and development patterns, compoundedby the local topography and weather at that specific time, can result in an unwieldy andunpredictable fire. Factors important in fighting ofsuch fires include access, firebreaks, proximity of water sources, distance from a fire station andavailable firefighting personnel and equipment. A review of past urban/wildland interface fireshas shown that many structures are destroyed or damaged for one or more of the followingreasons: Combustible roofing material; Wood construction; Structures with no defensible space; Fire department with poor access to structures; Subdivisions located in heavy natural fuel types; Structures located on steep slopes covered with flammable vegetation; Limited water supply; and Winds over 30 miles per hour.Road Access:Road access is a major issue for all emergency service providers. As development hasencroached into the rural areas of the county, the number of houses without adequate turnaroundspace has increased. In many single-family residential neighborhoods, there is notadequate space for emergency vehicle turnarounds, hindering emergency workers’ access to thehouses at risk. Narrow winding roads with inadequate turn-around space are particularlychallenging as fire trucks are too long to maneuver in these roads. In these cases, fire fightersmay evacuate the property owners and then leave themselves, unable to safely remain to savethe threatened structures.Fires at the urban-wildland interface tend to move quickly, with most of the damage or lossesgenerally occurring in the first few hours after the fire starts (Coleman, 1994). Therefore, accessto the urban-wildland interface for the purposes of emergency response is critical. This requiresstreets that meet minimum access and egress requirements so that they can be traversed by fireapparatus. The Glendale Municipal Code includes minimum width standards for local streetsand width and length standards for cul-de-sacs. The Glendale Fire Code (Volume VI, Article10, Section 10.207) requires an all-weather surface roadway with a minimum width of 20 feet(without parking) that can support loads of 55,000 pounds, minimum 13-feet 6-inches of verticalclearance, a grade that does not exceed 12 percent, and an approved turnaround when in excessof 150 feet in length. Chapter 28, Section 28-59 of the Municipal Code stipulates that any localstreet or cul-de-sac street that is abutted by more than ten residences shall be no less than 24feet wide from curb to curb, within a 28-foot wide dedication. The length of cul-de-sacs isregulated based on the number of dwelling units and distance from the point of dual access, butthe maximum distance for dead-end or no-outlet streets is 2,600 feet. In fire hazard areas, easyaccess for fire equipment shall be provided.Unfortunately, many streets in the hillside areas of Glendale are of insufficient width becausethey were built prior to the development of the current standards. Several other roads are non-2006 PAGE 7 - 14