Wildfire risk may lead to county ban on treated wooden roofing – Jackson Hole News&Guide

Fire Marshal Kathy Clay never forgot a lesson she learned from the U.S. Forest Service about wooden roofs and fighting fire in the wildland-urban interface.

One of the things they teach is that if you have a home that has a shake roof thats more than 25% on fire, you just drive by, Clay told the Teton County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 15. Its a triage effect, essentially. ... Youll save more by driving by.

Thats why Clay, the Teton Area Wildland Protection Coalition and Jackson Hole Fire/EMS recommended the County Commission disallow fire-retardant treated wood roof coverings for buildings in Teton Countys wildland-urban interface, areas where human-made structures and infrastructure like cell towers are in or close to places prone to wildfire. That includes much of Teton Village, East and West Gros Ventre buttes and swaths of land off Fall Creek Road, among other higher-end county locales.

The rule would not be retroactive, Clay told the News&Guide, meaning people with wooden roofs most often cedar shake roofs because of a common material wouldnt have to change them. Instead, Clay saw the regulation as forward-looking.

Itll be a good educational tool for people that are looking at their roofs and saying, Gee, maybe its time, she said.

The commission took Clay up on her suggestion, voting unanimously to begin a 45-day comment period. The board is now set to hear the issue for a final decision on Feb. 16.

Read more about the origin of the proposal and why cedar shake roofs are dangerous in the News&Guide, available for $1 on news stands countywide through Tuesday. You can also read online at JHNewsAndGuide.com.

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Wildfire risk may lead to county ban on treated wooden roofing - Jackson Hole News&Guide