One of the most devastating fires in Boise's history was made worse by the number of cedar-shake roofs in the neighborhood it hit.

And though Boise officials outlawed new shake roofs in the Foothills in 1996, the fire-prone roofs are still allowed throughout the rest of the city - including in the areas south and southeast of town where the city hopes to funnel most new growth and where fire risk is high.

In some of these areas - including the subdivision hit hard Monday - homeowner association rules mandate wood roofs.

Of the 10 homes that were destroyed in the fire, one had a tile roof and the rest were likely covered with wood shakes, according to a preliminary city inquiry.

Two years ago, fire officials from several agencies mapped the county's urban-wildland fire risk and urged local governments to adopt tougher regulations on all new homes.

Ada County toughened the rules for rural development in October. Boise didn't.

After Monday's wind-whipped Oregon Trail Fire - which raced up a steep slope to kill a woman, ruin 10 homes and damage many others - Boise is now considering whether to expand its stronger Foothills regulations to other parts of the city.

Mayor Dave Bieter and the City Council have given city staff 90 days to report on whether to recommend measures such as banning cedar-shake roofs, mandating fire-resistant construction materials and regulating vegetation and other flammable material near homes.

"We recognize we need to go back," said Jade Riley, a top aide to Bieter, adding that pockets of the city and areas on the fringes of the "wildland-urban interface" could soon be covered. "We're going to learn everything we can from this incident to reduce and prevent a future one."

Some homeowners associations in older, well-established neighborhoods created rules for aesthetics that increase fire risk.

Even Doug Hardman, Ada County's emergency management director, lives in a Southeast Boise subdivision that until recently required cedar-shake roofing. His own home has a wooden roof.

"It's not like I live remotely close to any of those urban interface areas, but it certainly worries me to have a wood-shake roof," Hardman said. "It is not unusual that we have bottle rockets and things like that."

His subdivision, Pier Pointe, was constructed in the late 1980s. Now the roofs in the neighborhood are aging. So association managers relented and are now allowing special composite shingles that look like traditional shake roofs.

New city fire rules would trump such association covenants, which set standards for the appearance and maintenance of homes. And it could be just in time both for new development being proposed among fire-prone grassland and sagebrush in Southeast and Southwest Boise but also for the city's 20- to 30-year-old subdivisions in need of new roofs.

But city officials, including Fire Marshal Dave Hanneman, said firewise standards would not have made a difference Monday. Current bans on shake roofs in the Foothills do not apply retroactively; only new construction and roof replacements must be fire-resistant.

Though not covered by firewise rules, the city did take three recent steps to counter risk in the Oregon Trail Heights and Columbia Village subdivisions: educating residents about firewise standards, drilling firefighters to fight a fire there and asking Idaho Power Co. to cut a fire break road between the homes and its substation below.

Hanneman said the entire city will be surveyed, but the focus will be on the southeast and southwest. The city also will review neighborhoods along both Boise benches, as well as canals and railroad tracks where vegetation flourishes.

Foothills homeowners must maintain at least 50 feet of "defensible space," a buffer where vegetation and other flammable objects are reduced or eliminated. New construction also requires the use of fire-resistant roofing materials, screened vents, enclosed eaves, nonflammable gutters and fire-resistant windows, exterior walls and decks.

That's similar to the standard in unincorporated Ada County, after the adoption of the firewise standards in October. The county was concerned about long emergency response times in rural areas and is facing pressure from large developments surrounded by open space.

Some developments, like Avimor north of Eagle, are working to become a firewise community, based on standards set by the National Wildland/Urban Interface Program.

Avimor is using fire-resistant building materials, planting fire-tolerant native plants, building landscaping buffer zones and removing weeds. It also will train residents in firewise techniques, said Avimor spokesman Craig Carter.

But fire codes aren't enough, according to Kuna Rural Fire Chief Doug Rosin, whose district covers about 100 square miles of the 1,060 square miles in Ada County. Rosin said tougher enforcement and public education is necessary because some people either forget or ignore best practices.

"Situations like Boise's fire get people to pay attention," Rosin said. "It just terrifies me that this could happen out here in the desert."

Hardman said he'll soon replace his own roof using fire-safe materials. As the man in charge of Ada County's flood, fire and earthquake planning, he knows how hard it can be to convince people to be proactive.

Hardman said he hopes Treasure Valley residents will take a lesson from Monday's "crisis" and create safe zones around their homes and use firewise materials.

"The mitigation part is always difficult," Hardman said. "Preventing something happening in the first place is seldom the priority."

Kathleen Kreller: 377-6418Dan Popkey: 377-6438