Dean Sharp Joins Us For Fire Safety 101

DEAN SHARP THUMBNAIL

Dean Sharp, the house whisperer, stopped by to talk about fire safety and explain why that entire neighborhood in Santa Rosa was decimated, even though it was incredibly developed.

Every fire season the building industry learns more and adjusts their codes to improve and attempts to mitigate loss for the next set of homes.

Dean explained that in recent years there has been a focus on building energy efficient homes. This means that the attics are more ventilated than ever with air vents all throughout as a way to reduce heating and cooling costs. This poses a problem when a fire is spreading and embers are being whipped up by high winds. A single ember can travel over a mile and stay hot. Typically these attic air vents are fitted with a mesh but the mesh doesn't keep the embers out. Fire chiefs recommend retrofitting ember flame resistant attic vents.

Another good tip is to keep your gutters clean. Dry leaves and other debris can act as kindling and lead flames and embers up to your attic and roof.

Make sure your home is updated with fresh smoke detectors:
- 1 per bedroom
- 1 in the hallways outside of the bedrooms
- 1 extra for each floor of your home

Ditch the old 9 volt battery operated kind and pick up a 10 year battery style. 

Hear more tips from Dean Sharp here:


Can't get enough of Dean Sharp? Check out his show, HOME with Dean Sharp


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