By DaVinci Roofscapes.
From coast-to-coast, the number "1" is very important when it comes to wildfires. All it takes is one lightning strike, one smoldering ember from a campfire, or one dropped cigarette to spark disastrous results --- especially in drought-stricken states.
Even though drought conditions have decreased in California and other parts of the West, a new study from Verisk Insurance Solution that was recently reported in BUILDER magazine, shows that 4.5 million U.S. homes are currently in the high or extremely high risk zone for wildfire.
"Wildfires have scorched nearly 3.5 million acres so far in 2017, according to the National Interagency Fire Center," says Arindam Samanta, director of product management and innovation for Verisk Insurance Solutions. "For the first half of 2017, the number of acres burned by wildfires is up 34 percent over 2016 and the ten-year average."Homeowners in a wide range of states, from Washington to Oklahoma, and all states in between, are on edge this year --- and with good reason. As wildfires pop up, even if they occur several miles away from a home, sparks carried on the wind can land on roofs and start additional fires.
The 2017 wildfire potential statistics presented in the study are staggering:
Some homeowners are resting easier though. California homeowner Dan Baer is one of them.
"More than 50 homes burned in our area during one wildfire," says Baer. "If the winds had been stronger, our home would have been included. Our old shake roof was a tinderbox waiting to ignite. Our new Bellaforté polymer tiles are rated Class A for fire retardance, which gives us tremendous peace-of-mind.”
When installed with the proper underlayments, composite slate and shake roofing tiles from DaVinci Roofscapes can attain the highest fire rating possible: Class A. This means the composite roofing products have undergone extensive fire testing using the ASTM E 108 test standard at the Class A level. These include:
Another concern for fire-area-prone residents are rising insurance rates. When he needed to re-roof his California home, Emilio Ricco discovered a big surprise from his insurance agency.
"Our insurance company basically told us to get rid of the original cedar shake roof or they would drop us," says Ricci. "We did some research and liked the functionality and long lifespan of the DaVinci synthetic shake roofing tiles. In our area, it was extremely important that the roofing tiles meet Class A for fire retardance. These synthetic shake shingles achieve that by meeting the ASTME E 108 fire test."
To see testing of the flame spread on composite shingles versus real cedar shakes, click here.
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