Check out this article by LAist, featuring CBI’s Dr. Alexandra Syphard, taking a look at why some houses burn but not others – especially in regards to the recent L.A. fires.
‘A lot of houses actually catch fire from inside the structure first without even catching on fire from the outside, because the ember gets in,’ explained Alexandra Syphard, a research ecologist with the Conservation Biology Institute and an adjunct professor at San Diego State University. In rural areas, where houses are spaced widely apart, ember-ignition accounts for nearly all of the houses that burn down, Syphard’s research has shown.
