Fighting Fire With Building Codes : Housing: 3 of 5 county supervisors support proposed ordinance requiring fire-resistant roofs, outside walls.

In an effort to prevent the type of massive fire damage that devastated Glendale and Santa Barbara last summer, the County Board of Supervisors is prepared to pass an ordinance that fire officials say would strengthen building requirements in much of the county, including Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains.

Three supervisors on the five-member board said last week that they will support a recommendation by county Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman that new roofs in the hilly areas be “effective against severe fire exposure.” The proposal also requires the use of fire-resistant materials on outside walls.

The law would apply in unincorporated hillside areas, including much of Malibu, that make up nearly one-fourth of the county’s 4,093 square miles, Freeman said.

The county has already imposed even more restrictive roofing requirements in much of Malibu, including the banning of new wood roofs. But the new ordinance will go a step further by requiring fire-resistant exterior walls.

A vote on the ordinance was postponed last week to give representatives of the wood roofing industry time to protest. They said wood roofs can be built to meet the new standard, but at a cost that would be prohibitive to most consumers.

A vote is expected Oct. 17.

Fire officials blamed wood roofs, in part, for the extensive destruction caused by the Santa Barbara and Glendale fires. The Santa Barbara fire destroyed 500 houses and apartments and caused $237 million in damage, and the Glendale blaze claimed 46 homes and caused $50 million in damage.

The Los Angeles City Council last year banned construction of wood roofs throughout the city, but the industry has gone to court in an effort to overturn the law.

Many other cities in the county--including Arcadia, Burbank, Covina, El Monte, Duarte, Glendale, Hidden Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes--already impose the tougher building standards that the Board of Supervisors will consider.

Glendale fire officials have proposed that the city go a step further, ordering the removal over five years of wood roofs in fire-prone hillside neighborhoods. The Glendale City Council, however, has not adopted that plan.

Paul Blackburn, a deputy county fire chief, said the proposed county ordinance is a common-sense response to the danger of wildfires.

“It doesn’t mean that every house is going to survive a fire, but it means you have a better chance,” Blackburn said. “It’s like wearing a seat belt in your car; it gives you a lot better chance of surviving.”

Fire Chief Freeman said wood roofs would not meet the requirements of the new ordinance, which is drawn from standards set by the insurance industry.

But officials in the wood roofing industry disagreed. They said wood shingle roofs can meet the requirement if they are treated with fire retardant and supported by two layers of plywood and one layer of fireproof plaster board.

“That will become a very expensive proposition and one that people are reluctant to pursue,” said Fred Cook, a spokesman for the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau. The additional layers of protection could add $2,000 to the cost of a $10,000 roof, said Phil Favro, an industry consultant.

At last week’s board meeting, Supervisor Pete Schabarum supported industry contentions that the increased standards would not save many homes in a hot, fast-moving fire, such as the one in Santa Barbara.

“Your representation of this new requirement being the solution to a fire like the one in Santa Barbara is, in my judgment, plain nonsense,” Schabarum told Freeman.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich also said he will oppose the ordinance, but supervisors Deane Dana, Ed Edelman and Kenneth Hahn said they will support it.