Fireproofing homes is late, as usual

As officials brace for another wildfire station, one that started much earlier than usual due to unseasonably warm weather, a priority is to protect homes and property.

Many of these homes are too close to forestland, almost always public. And too many have sprouted in the aftermath of previous wildfires, which authorities and the public suspect were the result of arson, started expressly to for the purpose of building. Many took advantage of the desolation to build on land they held no title to and in defiance of legislation that expressly forbids building on forestland consumed by fire.

The Energy and Environment Ministry announced Wednesday that it had secured €30 million from the Green Climate Fund, a global fund established by the 2015 Paris Agreement, to construct and maintain firebreaks around settlements built in forestland, irrespective of the legality of construction. It thus confirmed an unacknowledged but long-standing policy of essentially protecting and encouraging encroachment on forestland, since, after all, encroachers, like everyone else, are also voters.

The ministry also announced that the deadlines for a submission, by experts, of a “risk assessment report” on whether homes, in or near forestland, meet a set of detailed safety requirements, and, by homeowners, of a so-called “fire safety measure adoption declaration” have been pushed back by over a month to May 10, for the experts’ report, and June 10, for the homeowners’ declaration. Early June used to be very close to the start of the wildfire season and, with that start trending steadily earlier, is expected to be square into it this year.

The fire protection legislation, adopted in 2023, is an extremely detailed document that provides guidelines on how close houses and other constructions must be close to trees and bushes (different distances apply), how far oil and natural gas tanks must be for residences, and even specifies the materials used to build tool sheds (no tents allowed) as well as the positioning of pergolas (not touching the main house, to keep a fire from spreading). It also envisages an online platform for the submission of expert reports and homeowner declarations to local authorities. The platform being still in the vision stage, reports and declarations must, as a stopgap, be submitted in writing, in duplicate.