The updated fire standards Boise is proposing would result in stricter codes and safer structures in hazard areas, but existing property owners would not be forced to retrofit their homes to meet the new regulations.

"For the most part, these regulations would affect new development more than they would affect existing development," said Hal Simmons, Boise planning director.

"We would not make people rebuild their entire homes to meet the new wildfire standards," he said.

If homeowners renovated after the standards were adopted, however, they would have to adhere to the new fire and building codes, but only for the project they were working on. For instance, rebuilding a deck with fire-resistant wood would not require a homeowner to simultaneously update other features that no longer met code.

The lone exception would be renovations totaling more than 50 percent of a home's current value, in which case the entire house would have to be brought into compliance.

The new codes are among the recommendations in a 22-page draft report spurred by the Aug. 25 Oregon Trail Fire that killed one woman, destroyed 10 homes and severely damaged nine others. The city hopes to adopt the updated standards sometime next year.

The report calls for fireproof building materials, sprinkler systems in larger homes and defensible space for existing and future development in the expanded wildland-urban interface fire hazard area, which includes the Boise Foothills, the largely undeveloped desert land south of Gowen Road and the Idaho Power corridor where the Oregon Trail Fire occurred.

While retrofitting is voluntary for existing homeowners, the city hopes to encourage the improvements by pursuing federal grants for low-interest loans, developing a firewise home certification program and embarking on an aggressive public education campaign.

Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan said the city has to strike a balance between affordability for homeowners and adequate public safety.

"We don't want to come in with rules that cost people so much money that they can't live in their homes," he said.

"In those areas that we can't get them to voluntarily retrofit their houses or they just plain can't afford it, then we'll focus on things like setbacks and defensible space."

AREAS OF EMPHASIS

The draft report pays considerable attention to roofs and defensible space.

The Oregon Trail Fire was worsened by the number of cedar-shake roofs, which have been outlawed in the Foothills since 1996 but permitted throughout the rest of the city, including the southern desert land where most future growth is anticipated.

The new standards for roofs in the hazard area would require the highest fire rating, Class A. But that's not as bad as it might sound - the cost of covering a residential roof with fireproof shingles actually is cheaper than shake, said Ron Clapp, an estimator at J.B.'s Roofing.

Shake shingles cost $350 or more per 100 square feet. To replace a shake roof with basic Class A composite shingles costs around $200 per 100 square feet, Clapp said.

Defensible space, a buffer where vegetation and other flammable objects are reduced or eliminated, also played a part in the Oregon Trail Fire.

The homes of some Oregon Trail Heights residents were spared damage because they had sufficient defensible space, which in addition to the reduced fire hazard provides firefighters with a safe place to battle a house fire.

The draft report recommends a minimum 30-foot defensible space around the perimeter of a new building or development in the fire hazard area.

With the new codes comes the question of how they will affect development and construction.

Joe Kunz, government affairs director for the Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho, said the stricter regulations in the Foothills that have been in place for more than a decade have not been prohibitive for builders, and he does not expect the hazard area standards to be either.

"It's not something that we're going to be concerned with," Kunz said.

The codes would force changes to the aesthetic regulations of some subdivisions and homeowner associations. Shake roofs, for instance, are required in some developments. City code, however, supersedes subdivision covenants.

THE IMPACT

Adoption of the new standards may be months away, but some residents in the city's fire-prone areas already are taking action in the aftermath of the Oregon Trail Fire.

The Central Foothills Neighborhood Association is giving a fire safety presentation at its January meeting and is planning a fire safety campaign next year. The association also hopes to work with the Boise Fire Department and Bureau of Land Management to increase awareness of hazards in the neighborhood.

President Paul Werner said many of his neighbors have started replacing their shake shingles and using more fireproof building materials.

"We still have some shake roofs, but it's gradually disappearing, thank goodness," he said. "People that are remodeling are starting to get that message that those things are important. We realize that (an Oregon Trail-caliber fire) could happen in our area, too."

Before final recommendations are made, Boise will seek the input of people like Werner. The city plans to form a committee of developers, builders, neighborhood associations and residents and hold meetings over the next few months.

Though the city is moving quickly through the process - the draft report was created after a 90-day review of fire codes and ordinances following the Oregon Trail Fire - the results will take time, Simmons said.

"As people remodel their homes, we will get these things installed sort of a home at a time, but it won't have a large impact until new subdivisions have been built with these new standards," he said.

Chad Dryden: 672-6734