Ban on Wood Roofs Favored by Homeowners

Tom Nassiri vividly remembers the December morning when flames roared up the canyon behind his home in Porter Ranch.

He watched as his wood shake roof, treated with fire retardant just four months earlier, erupted in flames. Then, he said, “this house went up like a bombshell.”

Like many of his neighbors, Nassiri stayed to rebuild. But today, seven months after the fire that destroyed 15 houses and damaged 25 more, the roof on his Beaufait Avenue home is made of concrete tile--not wood.

“I think it’s like suicide to have shake roofs in areas prone to fire,” he said.

Los Angeles City Council members reached a similar conclusion last week when they tentatively approved a citywide ban on new wood roofs. The council is scheduled to take a final vote this week and, if the measure is approved, send it to the mayor for his signature.

Affects Repairs

The ordinance would also prohibit wood in replacements or repairs that affect more than 10% of a roof’s area.

Although spokesmen for the wood roofing industry have vowed to fight the city’s ban, homeowner groups and hillside residents seem generally supportive.

Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., which represents about 1,150 families, called the ban on wood roofs long overdue.

“We’re glad the City Council stood up against the industry, an industry more concerned with making a profit than protecting residents of Los Angeles,” he said.

Richard Smith, president of the Encino Property Owners Assn., which represents more than 900 homeowners--many in steep canyon areas--characterized wood roofs as “too much of a risk, especially with the tragedies we’ve seen,” and said he will speak in favor of the ban when it comes before the City Council this week.

“I don’t think it is something we can argue,” Smith said. “A ban on wood shingles is in the interests of all homeowners and residents.”

And Rosemary Woodlock, president of the 600-member Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, said her group welcomes the ordinance.

‘Excellent Idea’

“We think it’s an excellent idea,” she said.

So do many hillside residents who fear fire during the hot, dry summer months.

Elaine Fox, whose Gleneagles Drive home in Tarzana sits just below Mulholland Drive in the Santa Monica Mountains, thought about replacing her wood shingle roof with tile long before the City Council tentatively approved the ban.

She said she worries because of teen-agers who congregate in the brown, brush-covered hills at the end of Vanalden Avenue. “I see them parked there, smoking cigarettes,” she said. “If one of those sparks should get into the hills, well, one spark would ignite the woods.”

Just down the street of $500,000 homes, most with wood roofs, Jane Groner is making plans to re-roof her house with another--she says, safer--substance.

“I absolutely agree with it,” she said of the city’s proposed ban.

Uses Synthetic Wood

On Alonzo Avenue in the hills of Encino, Mary Lombardo just had a synthetic wood roof put on the house she remodeled. “If there is ever a fire, our house will burn, but our roof will stay,” she joked.

Dennis Bosse of Culver City Roofing pronounced shingle roofs “on the way out” as he installed a gravel roof in the Lake Encino area Friday.

“Everyone is going to fiberglass, concrete tile or imitation shake,” he said. “Wood shingles are just bad news.”

Warren Halliday, who owns Canoga Roofing Co., reports fewer requests for wood roofs. But not every customer is concerned about fire safety, he said. Many choose synthetic materials because they are more durable than wood and cost about the same--a minimum of $10,000 to $12,000 for a 3,500-square-foot roof, Halliday said.

However, Tom Romero, general manager of Spartan Supply Co. in Culver City, a wholesale distributor of roofing materials, said the demand for wood products has remained steady over the last several years, accounting for about 20% of his sales volume.

He predicted that Los Angeles’ ordinance could initially increase the demand for wood roofs as homeowners rush to order supplies before the ban takes effect.