Defensible Space: Health and Safety Receivership Used to Abate Fire Danger
Defensible Space
Health and Safety Receivership Used to Address Fire Danger
California Receivership Group is appointed to abate fire danger at nuisance property
Officials in a northern California County, prone to dangerous wildfires, contacted CRG after a property owner within its boundaries refused to address serious code violations at their home. Infractions included masses of dried leaves, accumulated junk, and dead shrubbery surrounding the property. Most significant were six large, dead trees, which were clumped together, leaning directly against the house. The unmaintained landscaping had the potential to magnify even a small fire, with the trees providing a potential ladder, helping to push any fire up and into the house. All that was needed for the unkempt property to turn deadly was the strike of a match, or a spark of wildfire. This would have endangered not only the owner, but neighboring properties, as well; the problems on-site reached far across the lot, enabling any fire to spread to the neighborhood.
Image from the County's Fire Prevention Council
Defensible Space
"It’s the buffer you create between a building on your property and the grass, trees, shrubs, or any wildland area that surround it. This space is needed to slow or stop the spread of wildfire and it protects your home from catching fire—either from direct flame contact or radiant heat. Defensible space is also important for the protection of the firefighters defending your home."
- CalFire
Defensible space is the concept of maintaining a sufficient distance between a building and exterior landscaping. It’s one of the most powerful ways to prevent the spread of fire, save lives, and protect property. We demonstrated its effectiveness in our last installment, in which we reported on a nuisance property that CRG was appointed to remedy. That property survived the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in our state's history because of defensible space—even though neighboring properties were completely destroyed.
16 days after CRG's appointment, the dead trees were removed and other code violations were remedied
Not only did the code violations on-site at our subject property pose a danger to the owner, but they put the surrounding community at risk of the spread of fire. Neighboring properties in this area are estimated to be worth over $100 million. The County's Fire Protection District petitioned the Superior Court to appoint CRG as the receiver to ensure removal of the trees and abatement of the fire dangers. Within one week we had contractors on-site to bid the remediation work. Days later, the trees were completely removed from the property, remedying the most significant danger.
By utilizing our extensive network of full-time employees, construction contractors, and vendors working across the state, as well as our ability to draw on a wide range of experience, CRG is able to quickly respond to emergency issues at problem properties.
