The OC Register printed a great article on why building at the Wildland-Urban Interface is NOT a great idea. It turns out, from this UCI published report, that Santa Ana Wind driven fires cause more damage (80% of the $3.1 billion in economic losses) and move faster (three times the speed of non-wind driven fires). It all comes back to planning. Jim Randerson says it best in the article: “We can’t keep increasing new exposure with new developments in high-risk, high-wildfire corridors. There needs to be a greater commitment to planning to limit our exposure.” Fire expert Rick Halsey also states: “I think it’s OK for us as a society to say, ‘You can build there, but we won’t defend your property.’ The problem is flammable homes in a flammable location.”

Check out the OC Register article.