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Finding $: The seasonal climatic conditions during the late s~mmer and fall <br /> create numerous serious difficulties regarding the control of and protection against fires <br /> in the City of Redwood City. Although the city has experienced an annual mean rainfall <br /> of 20.21 inches since 1948, one can anticipate no measurable precipitation at all during <br /> the summer months. The dry period average maximum temperature is 82.7 degrees <br /> Fahrenheit with an extreme maximum of '110 degrees Fahrenheit.4 These <br /> temperatures are often accompanied by light to gusty prevailing westerly to <br /> northwesterly winds. These dry winds, mixed with the natural vegetation which is <br /> predominant throughout the area, creates a hazardous fuel condition which has caused <br /> extensive grass and brushland fires. With more and more development encroaching <br /> into these wooded and grass covered areas, wind driven fires could have severe <br /> consequences as shown on many occasions in other areas of the state. Recorded <br /> weather patterns indicate that the average annual rainfall cannot be relied upon. Water <br /> shortages and water rationing may result as was experienced during recent drought <br /> years. <br /> <br /> While some code requirements, such as fire-resistive roof classification, have a <br /> direct bearing on building survival in a wildland fire situation, others such as automatic <br /> fire sprinklers, may also have a positive effect. In dry climate on Iow humidity days, <br /> many materials are much more easily ignited. More fires are likely to occur and any <br /> fire, once started, can expand extremely rapidly. Automatic fire sprinkler systems can <br /> arrest a fire starting within a structure before it could spread to adjacent brush and <br /> structures. <br /> <br /> The aforementioned conditions support the imposition of fire-protection and life- <br />safety requirements greater than those set forth in the 2000 Edition of the Uniform Fire <br />Code. <br /> <br /> Finding 4: The City experiences water shortages from time to time. Those <br />shortages can have a severe adverse effect on water availability for firefighting. <br /> <br /> Fires starting in sprinklered buildings are typically controlled by one or two <br />sprinkler heads, flowing as little as 13 gallons per minute each. <br /> <br /> Hose streams used by engine companies on well established structure fires <br />operate at about 250 gallons per minute each. The estimated water need for a typical <br />residential fire is 1250 to 1500 gallons per minute and upwards to 3500 gallons per <br />minute for commercial buildings, according to the Insurance Services Office.s <br /> <br /> Under circumstances such as earthquakes, when multiple fires can start within <br />the city, the limited water demands of residential fire sprinklers would control and <br />extinguish many fires before they spread from building to building. In such a disaster, <br />water demands needed for conflagration firefighting probably would not be available. <br /> <br />4 Source: National Weather Service, Western Regional Climate Center, Desert Research Institute, 2215 <br /> <br />Raggio Parkway, Reno, Nevada 89512, (775) 674-7010. <br />s Fire Suppression Ratinq Manual, Insurance Services Offices, New Jersey: 1998. <br /> <br />F:Atty/Reso/Reso.1333 5 <br />102802 <br /> <br /> <br />