Protecting Your Home from Wind Blown Fire Embers

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Welcome to the Disaster Throne podcast.
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I'm Eric Coldleman, your host, and with me today is
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Nikolai Allen, a wildland firefinder and founder of saif Sauce,
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a company that has wildfire mitigation solutions. And I'll have
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Nikolai here in the moment explain what Sauce stands for.
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But at this point please join me in welcoming Nikolai
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Allen to the Disaster Zone Podcast.
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Thank you very much, appreciate you having me.
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Well, Nickolay, why don't you give us a brief introduction
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in our audience for yourself, what's been your work history
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and what's your wildfire's experiences, et cetera.
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Yeah, so i still respond as called to viper contracts
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as a federal resource and I've fought fire from Nebraska
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to California mostly, and I've been on complex fires, so
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where there's you know, many divisions and usually part of
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one of them.
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And I've had a lot of.
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Good mentors that you know, have had over thirty years
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in fire. I've got to work on hand crews, on engines,
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and pretty much everything in between on the fire line
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over the past few years, and especially on some of
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the complex fires. In northern California. And then I've also
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been a part of learning and prescribe burning trucks, burns
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and other prescribe burns as well.
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Got a lot of experience in that as well. So
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I've got to see a lot of fire.
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Okay, well, you know, as we see and Nebraska's burning
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right now.
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It's been burning out of control there.
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But wildfires are becoming much more prevalent in many areas
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in the United States and other nations around the world.
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Australia's had big fire wildline fire issues. We've seen them
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in Greece and other European countries. Yeah, and as a firefighter,
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what types of weather and fuel conditions are you most
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concerned with?
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When the humidity drops and when there's heavy winds and
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the fuel moisture is low, it hasn't rain for a while,
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or you're looking at the hills or the vegetation and
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it's brown and not green, that's when it can be
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a recipe for disaster or weather wise, if something starts.
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Okay, and we're seeing those types of conditions, it's interesting.
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God blog posts coming out here in a little bit
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for climate change, they say, you know, warming temperatures wildfires
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and high heat is one of those. Else is the
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view will see see extreme snow events and extreme rain events,
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and we've seen all of those already in this year.
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The snow we've seen on the East Coast, certainly, the
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flooding in many parts of the nation right now in Hawaii,
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and then wildfires, so things are changing. I think many
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people think, Okay, they're the fire and we dispatch wildline
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firefighters out there. They're able to explane, explain, extinguish most wildfires.
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What the typical priorities for wildfire fighting and how does
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home or business protection fit into that picture?
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Definitely on the priority that I've seen firsthand and that
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I get from my command is always life safety first.
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So if there's people that need to be evacuated, or
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communities that need to be evacuated, or a life threatening situation,
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that's always given priority.
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And I've seen that many times over.
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And we and Wildland we're controlling the fire in the
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vegetation and trying to keep it out of communities altogether.
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So a lot of the work that I've done has
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been on a dozer line and out in the forest
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without a structure in sight, trying to stop the fire
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long before it's getting to a community, even in some
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of the roughest terrain, trying to stop it there instead
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of a roadway nearby the community. So you're always trying
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to stop the fire using resources that are possible, and
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even natural resources. For example, if you're trying to stop
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a fire that's acres and acres, just hundreds of acres,
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and you have a natural ridge line that's all rock,
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you might be able to use that as a stopping
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point well before it hits the community. But in wildland fire,
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it is all about controlling it in the vegetation and
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keeping it off and out of structures entirely.
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Okay, what about it.
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So let's say any people love these cabins in the
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woods type of thing. Well, I've seen sometimes structural fire units.
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These are our typical fire engines. Folks that would come
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out of a city. They come out and they'll do
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structural protection and they might be sent And that's not
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what as you described the typical wildland fire priority. Right,
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you'd be working at make sure people are out, but
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you're not concentrating on an individual house per se.
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Well, and in many cases, if the fire does get
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close to a community, absolutely where we're doing everything that
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we can to protect those homes as well. So making
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sure that life safety is handled first, whether that's humans
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or animals, you know, pets, livestock for example, or horses.
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And then the structure protection. So when we go up
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to a community or a house, when there's obvious preparations done,
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you know, we can very quickly assess the homes that
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we can save, and one hundred percent we're trying to
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save any structure that we can as well if the
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fire has already gotten close to a community.
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Okay, all right, Well, one of things I don't know
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if you're familiar with this Australia in the past, I
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don't know if they've stayed this with this because they've
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had some fire deaths urged residents to stay in fight
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the fire at their residence. What do fire agencies recommend
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for residents here in the United States and here in America,
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The say, hey, if you can stand, fight or they evacuate.
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So it's it's mostly evacuate.
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I'm i am an advocate for early and safe evacuation
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because I've I've seen and experienced and come across too
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much loss of life from people, you know, for example,
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staying behind with just a trash pump, you know, a
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hardware store pump that is from your local hardware store,
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and and a hose with no basic with no training
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and no proper protective gear.
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That's not something that I can recommend.
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The other thing that you're evacuating from is the panic,
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the traffic congestion, the toxic smoke in the air, and
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the unknowns right trees falling out of nowhere because they
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you know, they burnt. There's a lot of things that
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you're evacuating from that's not just the direct firefront that
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you can see. So I'm hoping that my tools with
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safe Sauce give homeowners a sense of preparedness, proactive preparedness,
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so that they are more comfortable evacuating earlier and safer
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knowing that they've done something to protect their home from
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windborn embers. So I'm a huge advocate for following local
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evacuation orders.
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Yeah, don'talay, you know, if you get the order, follow
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those instructions correct.
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I'm a huge supporter of that. I've seen too much
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loss of life, and especially in heavy winds. It's dangerous
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being outside in heavy wind gusts when there's no fire
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on the ground. If you add fire to those wind gusts,
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it's there's nothing as humbling as a wildfire and heavy
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winds like that, and it's not worth your life.
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Yeah, I'm trying to think all the The movie is
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actually nominated for Best Picture.
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I saw, actually saw the one with Matthew mccounty. It's
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a bus driver. That's a pretty good one.
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Yeah, I mean it did pretty good at capturing the
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kind of hysteria or just the fierce nature of being
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stuck in a wildfire and not you know, evacuating earlier,
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or maybe not having time to evacuate earlier.
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Yeah.
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The other one, I know, it has the word training.
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Maybe it's train station something like that. It's about a
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Northwest lagger, just the average guy out there but.
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Talking about the hazards in the woods and they were
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just being loggers.
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And when you're talking about high wind events, there's a
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lot of you know, they're called widow makers. They can
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just blow out of the trees there's no fire immediately
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around you or dead trees that finally follow.
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Yeah. I'll tell you.
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If it might be interesting for you to hear and
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and your listeners, But I was so humbled after a
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prescribe burn that we did in the forest, so it
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was prepped out. We cut fireline, we ran hose around
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the whole acreage, and there was forests there, but the
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prescribe fire is taking out, you know, dead vegetation and
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also trees that need to go. Maybe they're dead, but
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you don't you can't really see that right off hand.
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You have to walk the whole tract and look for
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like you said, you know, those widow makers or snags
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up in the tree, so branches that have fallen, they've
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broken fallen, but they haven't fully fallen off the tree.
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So in heavy winds at any point, those huge branches
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can just fall out of nowhere and you might not
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expect it. But after the prescribe burn went through successfully,
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I was on night watch and I could just hear
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these trees falling all night long, and I had just
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walked that we were just in that area. But the
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trees that were dead or dying or almost dead that
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needed to go, you could see the prescribed fire took
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those and it was just all night trees falling, And
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that was very humbling because you realize the dangers of
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being in the woods in the winds without fire on
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the ground, so when you add fire to that, and
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especially in our training, you learn to have your head
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on a swivel and constant situational awareness, and it's just
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a very you have to be so alert to be
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okay in that environment, and it takes a lot of training,
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and it takes going out with experienced personnel. You know,
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people I've trained under former Hotshot superintendent, and it takes
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a lot of experience to really recognize those dangers and
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be humbled enough by them to.
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Take them very seriously.
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And that's what a lot of people don't understand when
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faced with evacuation orders or following authority is there, We're
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trying to protect everybody, and in those extreme circumstances, you
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really there's so many things that you have to be
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careful for in addition to just the direct flame front.
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If you can't see that approaching your house, and.
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You know I've experienced.
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We moved in a brand new house, new housing area.
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They had left some trees and.
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Green belts, and those, of course those trees are not
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used to experiencing high winds, not protected by others. So
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we're in the house, very cold and high wind and
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in the night we several times we woke up withoom,
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and those were trees falling, and one million one fell
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on a neighbor's house right across the bridge of it,
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you know.
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So it's just really something to be aware of.
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But you you would understand from that experience, right, like, wow,
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thank god I wasn't.
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Underneath that tree. But if I had been outside.
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Or been a little bit more you know, careless about it,
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you could have been under that tree. So it's it's
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one of the most basic things that you have to
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start learning. And wild and fire is just that the
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nature of those hazards that don't even have anything to
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do necessarily with the direct claim.
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Yeah, and just two years ago, we also have a
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home in Oregon, some really big fur trees and looked
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out one morning and it's like an eight inch branch
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had broken off and falling. And wouldn't take eight inch
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branch to kill somebody either, but I mean it, yeah,
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I cut it up.
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I was using part of it for firewood.
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So yeah, very dangerous area for Firefire is in for
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people just being out there in the woods. Don't be
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hanging around the woods during a high wind event period.
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Absolutely fire or no fire. That's right.
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There's a National Firewise program that encourages homeowners to take
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protective measures before a fire starts to lessen the possible
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impact of wildfires impacting their homes. To give a quick description,
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what some of the things that would be you talked
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about assessing at home whether maybe it's survivable. You walk up,
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you see people maybe implemented Firewise around their house.
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Yeah, you know, Firewise and the NFPA, they're great programs,
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and we like to echo the science from IBHS, and
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we like to promote the Firewise program because the Firewise
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is get communities together to educate homeowners, and we like
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to educate first and provide tools second. And basically when
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you create a firewise community, it gets everybody together to
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learn what is zone zero, what is defensible space, and
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some of the preps that you absolutely have to do,
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which safe sauce supplements. Right, it doesn't replace defensible space,
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So we like to teach that as step zero. But
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within five feet of your house you shouldn't have combustibles.
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They can act as kindling to catch your structure on fire.
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And it's not just simple concept that is great that
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it's being taught and every homeowner needs to really adapt
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it that five foot zone. If you can clear that
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out of combustibles, no firewood, no furniture, no trash or debris,
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or leaves piled up dead vegetation up against your structure,
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that's a huge benefit already. And then you need to
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have a code to prove vents or metal mesh on
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your vents on the outside as a bare minimum, I
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00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:16.960
would say. And then we have a filter that goes
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00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.200
on the inside of that that can help catch windborn
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00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:23.919
embers and snuff them out. But you basically really want
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00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:28.759
to make sure that your home is cleared, especially in
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00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.639
that five foot area, and then within the five to
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00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:36.120
thirty feet zone of your structure. If you have vegetation,
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00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.840
if you do have trees surrounding your property, what you
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00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:42.440
can do is clear the canopies to see that they're
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00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:46.759
not touching. If one tree catches fire and it's intergrown
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00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.120
with another tree next to it, you're pretty much automatically
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00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:53.080
catching the other tree on fire. But if you can
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00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.679
clear some space like ten feet between the tree canopies,
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00:16:57.159 --> 00:16:59.799
it means that if one tree does catch from embers,
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00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.360
automatically catching the other tree on fire and.
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00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:06.839
The thing I did because I had that green belt.
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00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:09.400
I limbed everything up as far as I could reach,
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00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:13.960
so that if there's a fire on the ground, keep
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00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.519
it out of getting up into the tree.
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00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.000
Absolutely, no, that's a very good point.
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00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.240
So in addition to clearing the cannop bees, you want
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00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:23.440
to make sure that you have dead vegetation off.
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00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:24.359
The ground, and that you.
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00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:29.920
Trim the limbs at least minimum of six feet up
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00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.680
off the ground, and you don't have ladder fuels up
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00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:36.160
around the base of the tree like other bushes and
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00:17:36.200 --> 00:17:39.880
so forth. If you can help it, clearing some space,
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00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:43.039
almost treating the tree trunk as if it was a
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00:17:43.079 --> 00:17:45.680
structure that should have some clearance around it as well,
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00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:48.359
so it's less likely for the tree to catch fire.
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00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:52.880
How About if you're to rate the type of roofs
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00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:55.440
you would want to have on your house, what would
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00:17:55.519 --> 00:18:00.039
be from either bad worth or good to Yeah.
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00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:04.000
Though the worst would be wooden shingles of any kind
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00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:07.400
because they warp and get gaps so embers can go
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00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:09.519
in and then embers can land on them and just
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00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:10.480
catch them on fire.
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00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.680
Most roofs these days.
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00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:20.640
Are Class A and much better so concrete shingles or
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00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:24.880
metal would be a great roof, even asphalt shingles, if
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00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:29.759
you keeping it clear of debris and your gutters clean
286
00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.920
and not spaces where vegetation can build up and kind
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00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:36.559
of act as a kindling to catch it. Even those
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00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:40.160
types of roof with embers landing on it, it's just
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00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:43.960
not automatically going to catch it on fire. So worst
290
00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:47.240
would be the wooden shingle roofs, and best would be
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00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:51.880
the concrete metal roofs that are really noncombustible.
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00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.720
Well, I've got I'll tell you a quick roof story.
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00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.000
So I moved from the Midwest and there were homes
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00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:02.960
in the Chicagoland area they had cedar shake Wilson.
295
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:04.799
They were the nicer home. That's great.
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00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:09.519
And I moved out here to Washington State and else
297
00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:11.000
I bought had cear shake Rose.
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00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:12.119
I said, oh, this is great.
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00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.519
And I also didn't know that Mount Rainier was a volcano,
300
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.039
you know, I didn't understand what it was. In fact,
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00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:26.079
we had I'm trying to think of the neighborhood neighborhood rules.
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00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:31.759
I can't remember what that term is. Yeah, h h
303
00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:36.160
o A more than it's on the quality. It said
304
00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.519
you had to have seed shake or a tile roof,
305
00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:42.559
and I went to replace my roof and I could
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00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:47.000
get a metal roof that looked like shakes. And I
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00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.799
had neighbors over and we looked at one and they said.
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00:19:51.079 --> 00:19:53.880
We don't want to put a roof on. They didn't
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00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:56.759
all agree that we're not going to do it.
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00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:01.359
Well, I had another neighbor years later putting on a
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00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:05.119
metal roof and that looked like shakes.
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00:20:04.759 --> 00:20:09.279
So I had and some neighbors came up and said, hey,
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00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:10.400
you know you can't do that.
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00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:15.039
Curent to our hua and he said stop me. Well,
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00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:19.440
they sued him, and that metal roof was fifty thousand
316
00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:23.440
dollars put on. He ended up spending ninety thousand dollars.
317
00:20:23.480 --> 00:20:27.359
He had to tear off the new metal roof, pay
318
00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:31.319
cork costs and put on a wood shake roof, and
319
00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.160
then he sold the hous and left the neighborhood.
320
00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:39.759
Well, yeah, I mean, I'm hoping that as we learn more, right,
321
00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:42.680
I mean, and look, there's charming areas like that. I
322
00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:48.319
like Northern California, Carmel, California. It's super super charming. There's
323
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.720
some old wooden roofs and everything. But as we learn
324
00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:55.920
more about the science of fired. We got to take smarter,
325
00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:00.640
more proactive steps to protect our homes from that in
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00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:04.079
the best way that we can. So there's there's materials
327
00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:07.440
and treatments that you could use on wooden shake roofs,
328
00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:12.119
but like I said, those the wood won't stay exactly
329
00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.000
flat and that will that will bend and warp.
330
00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:17.400
And even if.
331
00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:22.680
You treated the roof with some fire retardant or something,
332
00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:26.240
the nature of the wood shakes, it would warp and
333
00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:29.079
that opens up gaps where embers can enter. If wind
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00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:31.559
can get that, embers can get right behind it. So
335
00:21:32.359 --> 00:21:35.480
if you're near any potential fire risk at all, I
336
00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:37.839
wouldn't recommend wooden shingles.
337
00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:41.319
Right, and today folks have an asphalt rough So there
338
00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:45.440
you go. Yeah, well watch this has been great to
339
00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:47.799
set the stage there, Nick. We're going to take a
340
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.000
quick break, and when we come back, we'll talk about
341
00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:56.599
the solutions you've developed to help make a house even
342
00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:00.599
more I can't always say fireproof, but more fire existence.
343
00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:01.519
We'll be right back.
344
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.400
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Today at DOBERMANEMG dot com, Emergency management is changing. Are
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you keeping up? The Readiness Lab takes it to the
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that's a put. We also deliver top tier marketing and
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Learn more at the Readiness lab dot com. Like what
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you're hearing, check out our show notes for more details,
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including the links to each of our sponsors.
371
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And we are back today talking with Nickolay, Allen wildline
372
00:23:54.359 --> 00:23:58.400
firefighter and founder of Safe Sauce, a company that has
373
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:01.640
wildfire mitigation solutions.
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00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:05.680
And Nickolay, my dad.
375
00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:10.119
Was a railroad engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad. Didn't
376
00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:13.839
have an engineering degree, was not a scientist or anything,
377
00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:16.720
but he came up with the idea for a different
378
00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:20.680
type of air gasket as on those air holes, is
379
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:23.720
connected to all those trains, and he got a patent
380
00:24:23.799 --> 00:24:25.480
and all that.
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00:24:25.880 --> 00:24:26.519
I think of you.
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00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.720
As kind of like my dad, how did you come
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00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.119
up with the idea for the solutions?
384
00:24:33.119 --> 00:24:36.920
Weren't that we're talking about? What motivated you? Say? Hey,
385
00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.359
I wonder you know what was?
386
00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:45.359
Yeah, no, I I appreciate that. Well, it was necessity.
387
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.200
So I was having to evacuate from the Wolsey fire
388
00:24:49.400 --> 00:24:53.480
with my two young children, my wife, my dogs, and
389
00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.680
I'd never seen anything like that, the gridlocks and the
390
00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:00.000
panic and the low visibility, the smoke in the air.
391
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.480
And after the Woolsey fire was done, when everything was
392
00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:07.519
said and done, you saw some homes saved and some not.
393
00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:12.440
And at the time, without my training, you know, this
394
00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:17.160
is almost six years ago, I thought, oh, some homes
395
00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.799
got retardant dropped on them and some didn't, and the
396
00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:22.680
ones that got the retardant dropped on them were saved.
397
00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:23.799
This is my.
398
00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:29.400
Ignorant, you know, just pre pre training, right, pre experience.
399
00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.400
So what it actually started as is there's got to
400
00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:35.720
be a way for homeowners to apply their own fire retardant.
401
00:25:36.119 --> 00:25:38.319
And I started that process with some.
402
00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:42.480
Engineers in Japan that were already making liquid that was
403
00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:47.160
for extinguishing fires, basically a wedding agent. And if they
404
00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:49.920
can put out fires, how can you know it act
405
00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:53.200
as a retardant. And that started a you know, five
406
00:25:53.279 --> 00:25:57.319
year long process of quickly I learned, oh, this is
407
00:25:57.359 --> 00:25:59.319
why this doesn't exist yet, right.
408
00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:00.759
It was one thing after the other.
409
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:04.559
The first thing was it was found that certain things
410
00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:08.960
were toxins in the you know, the old fire retardant.
411
00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:12.200
As it happens, you know, years later, after some research
412
00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:16.160
and discovery, it's discovered for example, oh, floorine is bad.
413
00:26:16.319 --> 00:26:17.640
You know, that's a carcinogen.
414
00:26:17.799 --> 00:26:22.160
So immediately the first thing was making the formula non
415
00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:27.920
toxic and getting anything that was found toxic removed and
416
00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:31.559
being proactive. So if there was anything even that it
417
00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:34.960
was suspected of being toxic taking it out of the formula,
418
00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:38.960
then it was how do we make it you know, clear,
419
00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:41.640
Let's make sure that it doesn't stain, So that was
420
00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:42.519
a whole process.
421
00:26:42.599 --> 00:26:45.319
Then typically they're red with.
422
00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:45.640
What you.
423
00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:48.319
And they need to be.
424
00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:53.039
And you know, the other organizations that I've had, you know,
425
00:26:53.519 --> 00:26:56.400
I've been very grateful for the fire retardant that's dropped
426
00:26:56.400 --> 00:26:58.759
out of planes right on the fire line and all
427
00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:01.559
of that stuff. I'm sure not toxic any you know,
428
00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:03.960
it doesn't have fluorine in it. I'm sure it's since
429
00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:07.000
been removed. So it gets a bad rap and a
430
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:09.480
lot of people think, oh, that stuff is toxic. But
431
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:12.960
I think the primary reason for that was because one
432
00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:17.119
trace ingredient in it from a long time ago could
433
00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:19.319
have been found to have been a carcinogen, which has
434
00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:23.319
been you know, since removed. So then it was a
435
00:27:23.359 --> 00:27:27.000
function of Okay, it's clear it's non toxic, But how
436
00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:30.440
does the homeowner apply it themselves If they have to
437
00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.799
put it in a backpack sprayer and wear five gallons
438
00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:35.839
on their back and it just kind of pisses out
439
00:27:35.880 --> 00:27:37.759
of this thing and takes a while, that's not going
440
00:27:37.799 --> 00:27:40.640
to work. So it was, hey, let's apply it like
441
00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:43.400
a fertilizer or a weed killer. Let's use the garden
442
00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:47.599
knows that's a dispersal mechanism. But then it was a
443
00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:51.400
function of how do we make it concentrated enough to
444
00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:54.000
make it still effective if you're using water as a
445
00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:59.119
dispersion mechanism. And two, once the liquid is concentrated enough,
446
00:27:59.240 --> 00:28:02.160
like almost to a point where if you just poured
447
00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:04.960
out the concentrate, it would just start crystallizing.
448
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.640
It's very very concentrated.
449
00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:10.559
Two was how do we develop a nozzle that will
450
00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:13.480
suck up enough of that concentrate into the water stream
451
00:28:13.559 --> 00:28:16.799
to make it, you know, an effective dose.
452
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:20.440
You know, I just want to interrupt here. Two things.
453
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:23.960
One of folks on me in my lawn mode right now,
454
00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:27.039
it's off here a mutter in the background that fit.
455
00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:31.240
But the other thing is it's interesting how you dipped
456
00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:32.680
your toes in the water.
457
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:37.160
And now you're going through there's a lot through all
458
00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:40.279
the trials and true, yeah, and I quickly learned, you know,
459
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:42.680
why it hadn't been done before. And then it was
460
00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:46.240
just I mean literally years of going back and forth
461
00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:52.200
with chemical engineers and mechanical engineers and like you said,
462
00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:55.119
filing patents. You know, we have patents pending on everything,
463
00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:58.799
and we had that that's a whole thing in itself,
464
00:28:58.880 --> 00:28:59.799
but it.
465
00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:04.000
Was overcoming challenges of why this.
466
00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:06.359
Hadn't been done before, and then trying to you know,
467
00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:10.680
just fighting to make it possible. And then throughout that process,
468
00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.519
I actually became a wildland firefighter myself and started going
469
00:29:15.559 --> 00:29:20.720
on fires. And so even though that was nearing completion,
470
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:23.839
and we tried it, used it on prescribe burns and
471
00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:27.119
tested it and tested it and saw that it's effective,
472
00:29:27.240 --> 00:29:32.480
and a lot of you know, really trained you know,
473
00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:35.599
people that used to be in CalFire and now burn
474
00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:39.759
bosses and so forth, really impressed with its efficacy.
475
00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.079
Even when that was done and I knew.
476
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:45.920
That that would work, I didn't launch it alone because
477
00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:48.960
I thought I didn't want homeowners to think this is
478
00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:52.599
some magical spray that you just like kind of you know,
479
00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:56.880
spray on your home and everything's fine, especially because of
480
00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:01.680
windborne embers and this not placing anything. So that's when
481
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:05.480
we had to come up with a more effective solution
482
00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:08.400
for a very big gap in the market right now,
483
00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:11.440
which is what about all the homes that were built
484
00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:15.720
a long time ago that can't afford or don't have
485
00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:19.119
time to do permanent construction updates before the next fire
486
00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:19.640
could come.
487
00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:21.599
How do we service those people?
488
00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:23.480
And what are some of the tools that I wish
489
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:26.519
I had on the fire line that were either already
490
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:30.200
installed in people's vents or that could be used to
491
00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:33.920
temporarily seal up gaps so that you're protecting the structure
492
00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:34.599
from members.
493
00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:36.559
And for some.
494
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:41.400
People they live in their house, they might be sitting
495
00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:44.720
on a slab, or they maybe have a cross space
496
00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:48.839
or basement. But when you say vent, why don't you
497
00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:53.000
explain what you're talking about? By vance two? There's three
498
00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:56.680
places I think about in the ones in the foundation,
499
00:30:57.559 --> 00:30:58.240
the ones.
500
00:30:57.960 --> 00:30:59.720
That run along the ease and.
501
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:03.119
Modern in houses a lot of times they're round holes
502
00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:07.640
looking things I've seen. And then you also have roofbins also,
503
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:13.079
so explain that aspect and that you mentioned earlier in
504
00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:16.079
the podcast the size of the screen, and you know
505
00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:19.960
nylon screen is not what works these days the game.
506
00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:24.079
Yeah, absolutely, you have to have a code approved vent
507
00:31:24.440 --> 00:31:28.720
or a code approved metal mesh. So some codes are
508
00:31:28.839 --> 00:31:33.039
one eighth inch, some are you know, going one sixteenth
509
00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:36.119
We would recommend one sixteenth inch. We literally put that
510
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:40.119
on our packaging, you know, in stores. We recommend this
511
00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:43.799
going behind one sixteenth inch because we've done a lot
512
00:31:43.799 --> 00:31:48.480
of ember testing and found that one eighth inch gap
513
00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:52.440
will let quite a few embers through still, and if
514
00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:54.880
enough of those come through, then your attic is catching
515
00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:57.519
fire from the inside out or your crawl space. So,
516
00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:02.119
like you said, the events that are typically lower on
517
00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:05.039
the house or underneath the house would be the crawl
518
00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:06.880
space vents, and you.
519
00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:13.319
Got to keep embers from entering through there. And Heretofore,
520
00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:14.119
there hasn't.
521
00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:16.920
Been a solution for smoke at least to help mitigate
522
00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:19.920
that or help even filter smoke or toxins from the air.
523
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.839
So that's what the carbon filter is also helping with.
524
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:27.799
But you have vents in your attic, and every home
525
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:30.240
should have it to code. So you might have vents
526
00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:33.400
on your roof or your soft its or your eaves
527
00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:37.359
or your attic like a gable vent that's just straight
528
00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:40.720
direct access to fresh air. And this is basically the
529
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:43.079
lungs of your home that we're talking about.
530
00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:44.960
It's how your home kind.
531
00:32:44.839 --> 00:32:50.640
Of disperses, you know, hot air and breeze, and that's
532
00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:55.680
where we see a lot of structure loss and wildfire
533
00:32:56.039 --> 00:32:59.240
is that's why it looks so random when it's not
534
00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:02.160
like a fire front, just a tax of community and
535
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:05.839
all the homes on that side are burnt. Now, while
536
00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:09.799
that can happen, it also happens that many homes have
537
00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:14.960
embers that are igniting near the structure or going into
538
00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:19.720
attics or garages or vents, and a lot of people
539
00:33:20.680 --> 00:33:25.039
don't realize that gaps like your garage door, even if
540
00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:27.839
it looks sealed and heavy winds, the heavy wind is
541
00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.759
knocking that and creating gaps where wind can enter and
542
00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:34.720
embers can follow behind it, or even pet doors, doggy doors,
543
00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:41.720
et superior door thresholds. So we have a fiberglass tape,
544
00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:46.440
heavy duty, high heat resistant fiberglass tape that it's something
545
00:33:46.519 --> 00:33:48.440
that we use in.
546
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:50.039
Our private protection.
547
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:52.519
You know, all the places that we protected and the
548
00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:58.000
Palisades fire, we were saved, and it's a tool that
549
00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:01.000
we can use and that homeowners can use to temporarily
550
00:34:01.079 --> 00:34:03.240
seal those gaps if they're going to evacuate.
551
00:34:03.880 --> 00:34:07.160
Well, why don't we go through three different solutions? If
552
00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:07.920
I remember right?
553
00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:12.639
Why what being more methodical? Why don't you finish? Talk
554
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:15.920
about the tape? It looks like duct tape, but you're
555
00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:17.360
saying that's what's that means?
556
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:20.840
Yeah, Well, it's like a copper color and the base
557
00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:24.840
of the tape, which is step two in our three products,
558
00:34:26.280 --> 00:34:29.840
it's a called Step two is seal, but it's a
559
00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:33.599
fiberglass so same base material that fire blankets are made
560
00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:36.159
out of, high heat resistant. And then it's got a
561
00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:39.559
coating on it, and then it's got a pressure sensitive
562
00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:43.719
adhesive so you can apply it temporarily and then come
563
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:46.320
home after you evacuate and just peel it off without
564
00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:49.079
damaging the paint because when you release that matter, the
565
00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.440
adhesive wants to release, so.
566
00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:54.920
There's no residue left correct, little to no residue.
567
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.000
I think no residue guarantee is not possible, but little
568
00:34:59.000 --> 00:35:03.519
to no residue and not damaging to uh, you know,
569
00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:05.360
properly painted surfaces as well.
570
00:35:05.480 --> 00:35:09.800
So for instance, are the ones you mentioned the garage door,
571
00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:14.800
you know, the edges there, door thresholds around the door itself.
572
00:35:14.880 --> 00:35:20.239
Maybe if it's the older home type of deal. What
573
00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:23.480
other places would you use that? You know, it's interesting
574
00:35:24.440 --> 00:35:28.119
I lived in the Chicago area and as a tract
575
00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:31.760
house and it'd be twenty blow zero and the wind
576
00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:35.079
would blown and the curtains on the inside would would
577
00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:37.559
actually move, so there was.
578
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:39.320
Air coming through.
579
00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:42.519
And I actually put clear tape made for that around
580
00:35:42.559 --> 00:35:45.480
the windows and the inside just to seal the wind out.
581
00:35:46.559 --> 00:35:49.119
You could probably do that also for some older homes
582
00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:50.880
if you don't have a.
583
00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:56.719
Good so older door frames, older window frames. This is
584
00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.679
part of the exercise, and this is why we're in
585
00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:05.280
at Education Forward brand, so we're we're providing education and tools.
586
00:36:05.320 --> 00:36:08.960
But once you start to identify all these places, we
587
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:14.840
hope that this is a gateway to permanent construction, you know, upgrades,
588
00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:17.760
because once you're if you're taping all your windows around
589
00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:19.960
your house, you're going to go, you know.
590
00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:21.360
What, I don't want to do this again.
591
00:36:21.400 --> 00:36:24.079
I'm going to get this properly, you know, stuck out
592
00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:29.039
or silicone, you know, calcking over it, and properly painted
593
00:36:29.119 --> 00:36:30.920
because I don't want to have to do this on
594
00:36:30.960 --> 00:36:33.039
the next fire, and that's great.
595
00:36:33.159 --> 00:36:34.679
We're really hoping that this.
596
00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:40.880
Helps people temporarily, you know, save their homes or prepare
597
00:36:40.920 --> 00:36:45.239
their homes, and that they feel mentally, Okay, I've done
598
00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:47.920
what I can to give my home a fighting chance,
599
00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:50.000
so I'm going to evacuate early and safely.
600
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.880
But it also acts as a.
601
00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:57.719
Gateway to education and action on permanent construction upgrades that
602
00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:00.199
are the most important and that are they don't have
603
00:37:00.320 --> 00:37:04.119
to be too expensive, you know, or hard to do.
604
00:37:04.280 --> 00:37:09.679
So by by following these steps and doing these temporary
605
00:37:09.719 --> 00:37:12.199
actions and having it on hand, the homeowners are going
606
00:37:12.280 --> 00:37:14.519
to realize, oh, okay, I don't want to tape this
607
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:16.400
next time, so I'm going to get this, you know,
608
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:18.000
doctored up properly.
609
00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:18.840
Okay.
610
00:37:18.920 --> 00:37:21.119
So that's a that's a big part of it as well.
611
00:37:21.639 --> 00:37:23.039
Well. Talk more.
612
00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:26.159
We're talking about those vents and you've got this carbon
613
00:37:26.880 --> 00:37:28.960
Well it looks like foam.
614
00:37:28.599 --> 00:37:30.880
I'm sure it's not made out of foam.
615
00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:36.800
Filter, what's its properties? And I assume it's easy to cut.
616
00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:39.079
And I don't know what size squares it comes in
617
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:41.559
because can be different sizes.
618
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:45.440
Yeah, so on your at events or crawl space vents
619
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:48.119
that you can get behind. You know, for example, going
620
00:37:48.199 --> 00:37:50.039
up into your attic, you put on a code to
621
00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:52.840
proove vent, or you put on code approof mesh.
622
00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:54.480
That's the easiest, most.
623
00:37:54.199 --> 00:37:57.239
Affordable thing to do, is to put at least metal
624
00:37:57.280 --> 00:38:01.039
mesh on the vent on the outside or the inside,
625
00:38:01.079 --> 00:38:05.679
and then behind it. We have a new Universal Carbon
626
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:12.280
Guard Ember filter, which is a phosphate infused polycarbon material.
627
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:16.280
It actually looks like lava rock. It's pretty pretty stiff.
628
00:38:15.960 --> 00:38:18.039
But it is malleable and you can cut it to
629
00:38:18.159 --> 00:38:22.599
size and it's coated in activated carbon. So since the
630
00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:28.199
outside is already coated and fire resistant, self extinguishing is
631
00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:33.519
built into the structure when it's formed. It's self extinguishing.
632
00:38:33.639 --> 00:38:37.320
So if you remove you a source of flame, for example,
633
00:38:37.360 --> 00:38:39.920
it'll put itself out. If you have small wind borne
634
00:38:39.920 --> 00:38:43.320
embers that make it through the metal screen, it'll help
635
00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:46.880
capture those and snuff them out and basically kind of
636
00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:51.960
clog itself depending on how bad the conditions get. If
637
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:55.280
there's just smoke and embers hitting it, it'll fill up
638
00:38:55.320 --> 00:38:58.360
those holes. And it's two inches thick, so the embers
639
00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:01.239
would have to enter and kind of around in order
640
00:39:01.280 --> 00:39:05.159
to exit. So instead of just being one flat surface
641
00:39:05.360 --> 00:39:09.000
where embers can jump through, because it's two inches thick
642
00:39:09.159 --> 00:39:11.920
but still porous and still lets air through, we have
643
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:15.920
an over sixty percent net free area. It'll help capture
644
00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:19.920
those and snuff them out. But because it's activated carbon,
645
00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:22.639
it will also help filter smoke and toxins from the
646
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:26.000
air and capture those as well, even others like mold
647
00:39:26.039 --> 00:39:26.800
spores and stuff.
648
00:39:27.199 --> 00:39:31.320
A couple questions, then, could you because you want airflow
649
00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:36.559
there for those events, can you install those and leave
650
00:39:36.599 --> 00:39:37.599
them there year round.
651
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:42.360
Yes, we recommend installing them and leaving them and checking them,
652
00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:45.039
you know, seasonally to make sure that they're not dirty
653
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:47.360
or clogged and that they're still letting air through. And
654
00:39:47.400 --> 00:39:51.480
then after a fire, of course, we recommend checking them
655
00:39:51.519 --> 00:39:56.440
and replacing them, but we recommend that that's done immediately.
656
00:39:57.119 --> 00:40:01.320
I mean, just that one action alone, going into your attic.
657
00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:03.559
You know, you should be familiar with your attic space.
658
00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:05.400
I know a lot of homeowners don't want to do that,
659
00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:07.280
or they don't want to get in their crawl space.
660
00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:08.719
I understand it.
661
00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:11.280
Sometimes you can do it from the outside, you know,
662
00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:13.679
take the metal mesh off, put it inside, and then
663
00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:16.280
put it back on. But that would be the most
664
00:40:16.320 --> 00:40:20.480
immediate action because embers getting into your attic or into
665
00:40:20.519 --> 00:40:24.000
your crawl spaces can really catch your structure on fire
666
00:40:24.039 --> 00:40:25.000
from the inside out.
667
00:40:25.519 --> 00:40:30.119
Yeah, and you mentioned the smoke aspect. People may not realize.
668
00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:34.519
So you're in this major fire like the Palasites fire.
669
00:40:34.639 --> 00:40:38.199
I know there were some homes that survived, did not burn,
670
00:40:38.840 --> 00:40:42.360
but the smoke damage has been horrendous to the house.
671
00:40:42.400 --> 00:40:45.599
It got into the house and you can't come in
672
00:40:45.679 --> 00:40:48.000
and clean the carpet, clean the fronture and all that.
673
00:40:48.159 --> 00:40:50.719
Really it has to all be thrown out. So I
674
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:55.639
would think if those carbon filters help keep smoke out,
675
00:40:55.960 --> 00:40:57.639
that's a huge advantage.
676
00:40:58.039 --> 00:41:01.119
Yeah, and this is an exterior filter, right, so this
677
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:03.920
would be your attic or crawl space, not the inside
678
00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:08.199
of your house. But step two is the tape, and
679
00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:11.320
the tape can seal out the smoke if you have
680
00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:14.280
if you identify the places where there's gaps or the
681
00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:17.280
wind might get him in and that smoke into your house,
682
00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:20.920
then this can help keep that smoke as well as
683
00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:22.320
embers from entering.
684
00:41:24.159 --> 00:41:26.079
And then the other thing, all that.
685
00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:32.159
Work on fire retardant did pay off somehow, you've got
686
00:41:32.199 --> 00:41:33.239
something spray.
687
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:37.119
Yeah, So step step three, it's the last step. So
688
00:41:37.199 --> 00:41:40.400
we recommend having the ember guards in place year round,
689
00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:44.039
and then you have the tape on hand so that
690
00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:47.239
you could quickly tape up, you know, any gaps or
691
00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:51.679
vulnerabilities in your garage door, exterior door as a last step,
692
00:41:51.800 --> 00:41:57.519
you know, as you're evacuating or preparing, and then even
693
00:41:57.599 --> 00:42:02.599
shelter in place. You know, people I've I've heard some communities,
694
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:06.280
you know, start to get that direction from authorities. If
695
00:42:06.280 --> 00:42:08.559
there's only one way in or one way out. You
696
00:42:08.599 --> 00:42:11.639
could use tape on the front of your house or
697
00:42:11.679 --> 00:42:13.599
the back of your house so that you can kind
698
00:42:13.639 --> 00:42:15.199
of set it and forget it.
699
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:17.519
You at least know that embers and smoke aren't going
700
00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:18.559
in through those gaps.
701
00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:23.360
And then lastly, the tape is actually a water resistant
702
00:42:23.400 --> 00:42:27.239
once it's on, so you you would douse any combustibles
703
00:42:27.559 --> 00:42:32.639
or regular surfaces, not concrete or stucco, but any porous
704
00:42:32.760 --> 00:42:37.360
or cellular surfaces like wooden decks or pergolas, even in
705
00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:40.079
the five to thirty foot zone vegetation.
706
00:42:40.400 --> 00:42:42.880
You can spray as well. It is a phosphate base
707
00:42:43.039 --> 00:42:43.719
So now.
708
00:42:43.880 --> 00:42:47.800
Is this something that you can put on your hose
709
00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:49.039
to attach or is it?
710
00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:52.480
Yeah, it's a one gallon correct.
711
00:42:52.519 --> 00:42:55.800
Yeah, it's a one gallon concentrate that you can attach
712
00:42:55.840 --> 00:42:57.880
to a standard three quarter edch garden house.
713
00:42:58.440 --> 00:43:00.639
Okay. And how much is that treat?
714
00:43:01.719 --> 00:43:04.880
It treats about four hundred square feet. Twice over. We
715
00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:08.320
recommend twice over. That's why it's called twice over wildfire
716
00:43:08.360 --> 00:43:11.599
risk production spray because we really want to saturate it,
717
00:43:11.679 --> 00:43:15.280
especially when it comes to vegetation. You need to get
718
00:43:15.320 --> 00:43:17.920
it from multiple angles and make sure that you're trying.
719
00:43:17.639 --> 00:43:18.880
To coat the whole surface.
720
00:43:18.920 --> 00:43:22.039
If it's a wood fence, you want to spray both sides.
721
00:43:22.239 --> 00:43:24.360
So that's why we call it twice over.
722
00:43:24.519 --> 00:43:24.920
Okay.
723
00:43:25.079 --> 00:43:28.280
And you know people don't realize that a wood fence
724
00:43:28.320 --> 00:43:33.119
can cost twenty thousand dollars easily. Yeah, leaves here in
725
00:43:33.239 --> 00:43:35.199
Washington State, and we've got a lot of wood.
726
00:43:35.960 --> 00:43:39.719
Yeah, especially decks or structures.
727
00:43:39.800 --> 00:43:43.079
Some homes that you know, we were protecting in Malibu,
728
00:43:43.159 --> 00:43:48.079
they've had vines growing beautifully over structures for thirty years
729
00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:50.559
and they you know, that's not something you could just
730
00:43:50.639 --> 00:43:52.599
replace either take.
731
00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:54.519
It would take decades to regrow.
732
00:43:54.639 --> 00:43:59.119
So people are treating their kind of prize vegetation as well,
733
00:43:59.199 --> 00:43:59.760
if they don't.
734
00:43:59.639 --> 00:44:01.679
Want some, if they if they want to try to
735
00:44:01.719 --> 00:44:02.239
protect that.
736
00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:07.480
And like you said, there's no fire proof, right, it's
737
00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:12.199
a and we're cautious of that. We we don't want
738
00:44:12.199 --> 00:44:17.440
to mislead anybody. So it's a wildfire risk reduction spray.
739
00:44:17.559 --> 00:44:20.400
It's not a guarantee that it won't burn. And we
740
00:44:20.480 --> 00:44:23.599
have a lot of videos posted of tests that we've done,
741
00:44:23.880 --> 00:44:28.000
even on really dry one hour fuels, and this was
742
00:44:28.079 --> 00:44:31.199
able to protect it. But it's not a given in
743
00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:34.000
every case. It's just something that you can do quickly
744
00:44:34.000 --> 00:44:35.800
and easily to reduce that risk.
745
00:44:36.239 --> 00:44:40.960
Yeah, and is this something you can apply in the
746
00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:45.320
spring or I'm here watching yesterday, I think we're probably
747
00:44:45.320 --> 00:44:48.119
an inch and a half of rain, So I'm.
748
00:44:48.039 --> 00:44:51.400
How long will it last once you've made that application?
749
00:44:52.280 --> 00:44:54.960
Yeah, so it's best to have it, you know, standing
750
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:57.440
by a couple gallons in your garage in case you
751
00:44:57.480 --> 00:44:57.800
need it.
752
00:44:57.800 --> 00:44:59.360
It's got a five year shelf life.
753
00:44:59.400 --> 00:45:03.320
But once you do apply it, arguably every layer that
754
00:45:03.360 --> 00:45:06.000
you would apply to a wooden fence or something that's
755
00:45:06.039 --> 00:45:09.760
not actually alive and growing kind of strengthens it. We
756
00:45:09.840 --> 00:45:14.000
have surfact in the material that lets it kind of
757
00:45:14.039 --> 00:45:16.519
foam up and want to cling to surfaces and soak
758
00:45:16.679 --> 00:45:19.800
into the cellulose material. So that can last for up
759
00:45:19.880 --> 00:45:22.920
to three months. But we would recommend having it on
760
00:45:23.039 --> 00:45:26.320
hand and applying it as close as you can to
761
00:45:26.440 --> 00:45:29.960
the you know, a red flag event. If there's going
762
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:33.440
to be a red flag warning and it could be
763
00:45:33.480 --> 00:45:36.280
a disaster, if a fire starts, that's a good time
764
00:45:36.320 --> 00:45:38.079
to treat so that you don't know, if you have
765
00:45:38.119 --> 00:45:40.480
a lot of vegetation, if you only have a little bit,
766
00:45:41.320 --> 00:45:44.239
you can apply one gallon in about six minutes. So
767
00:45:45.039 --> 00:45:47.199
if you have a little bit of vegetation and not
768
00:45:47.360 --> 00:45:50.000
a lot of wood surfaces around your house, which is great,
769
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:53.800
you know, that's always recommended, and you just have a
770
00:45:53.840 --> 00:45:55.920
little bit that you need to apply it on before
771
00:45:55.920 --> 00:45:58.880
you evacuate, then I wouldn't do it unless you have to,
772
00:45:59.119 --> 00:46:02.119
you know, just keep it on hand. I don't recommend
773
00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:06.519
treating it, you know, three times a season. And I'm
774
00:46:06.519 --> 00:46:09.639
not trying to sell you know, more units. I'm trying
775
00:46:09.679 --> 00:46:12.400
to be very realistic and give people tools that they
776
00:46:12.440 --> 00:46:13.760
can use if they have to.
777
00:46:14.239 --> 00:46:18.159
Okay, and oh, I was just saying, explain what a
778
00:46:18.199 --> 00:46:22.039
red flag event. But we have some listeners outside of
779
00:46:22.079 --> 00:46:24.440
the United States, what's a.
780
00:46:24.400 --> 00:46:25.280
Red flag event?
781
00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:29.079
Oh? Sure, red flag event is something.
782
00:46:28.719 --> 00:46:32.800
That we experience often here, you know, especially in I
783
00:46:32.840 --> 00:46:35.599
live myself in Ventura, California.
784
00:46:35.760 --> 00:46:37.519
So that's when.
785
00:46:37.400 --> 00:46:42.039
There's heavy winds and or there may be heavy winds,
786
00:46:42.559 --> 00:46:46.039
low humidity and dry fuels like the conditions that we
787
00:46:46.159 --> 00:46:49.199
talked about at the beginning of the interview. That's a
788
00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:52.440
red flag warning because if a fire starts, it can
789
00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:56.920
spread really fast, when you really need to be prepared.
790
00:46:58.719 --> 00:47:02.320
And you have to be prepared early enough.
791
00:47:02.360 --> 00:47:06.400
And that's why those red flag warnings exist is to
792
00:47:06.519 --> 00:47:10.440
let people know, hey, we have environmental conditions that could
793
00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:13.599
escalate quickly. If a fire starts, it gets spread really
794
00:47:13.639 --> 00:47:18.519
hot and very fast. And so those red flag warnings
795
00:47:18.559 --> 00:47:22.119
really need to be a signal to local residents that
796
00:47:22.119 --> 00:47:26.880
they need to take their preparations and get ready to evacuate.
797
00:47:26.920 --> 00:47:29.400
They need to take it very seriously because there could
798
00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:32.519
be an event that means that they have to evacuate
799
00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:33.320
at any time.
800
00:47:34.920 --> 00:47:36.000
Nickol I just saved me.
801
00:47:36.159 --> 00:47:40.440
Folks had a coffe attack and I muted myself.
802
00:47:40.559 --> 00:47:42.320
And gave them the signal and keep talking.
803
00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:48.199
But I think, you know, my wife is just saying,
804
00:47:48.199 --> 00:47:51.159
why do you read so much news? I mean, I
805
00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:55.480
really like to be informed. And I just mentioned this
806
00:47:57.480 --> 00:48:00.719
all in the blog post I did recently asking people
807
00:48:00.719 --> 00:48:04.079
where they get the news, and there's people say, well,
808
00:48:04.119 --> 00:48:07.519
I don't watch the news, And my physical therapist the
809
00:48:07.599 --> 00:48:10.519
other day said, I get it from my boyfriend tells
810
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:11.519
me what I need to know.
811
00:48:12.079 --> 00:48:14.559
So, yeah, if you don't.
812
00:48:14.400 --> 00:48:16.440
Know what a red flag event is and you hear
813
00:48:16.599 --> 00:48:20.719
oh red flag, I wonder what that meant that China's
814
00:48:20.760 --> 00:48:21.559
flag is red.
815
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:28.400
You know, being educated about this stuff. Being aware is
816
00:48:28.440 --> 00:48:30.920
a huge part of your protected.
817
00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:35.280
I think education is key, and we try to lead
818
00:48:35.360 --> 00:48:39.119
with that and then you know, provide some simple DIY
819
00:48:39.280 --> 00:48:41.719
stuff that people can do to be a little bit
820
00:48:41.760 --> 00:48:43.599
more you know, much better prepared.
821
00:48:44.119 --> 00:48:47.199
Okay, use the achron in there do yi.
822
00:48:48.280 --> 00:48:49.519
Oh, yeah, do it yourself.
823
00:48:49.840 --> 00:48:50.559
There you go.
824
00:48:50.760 --> 00:48:52.159
Yeah, So a lot.
825
00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:55.400
Of people are you know, there's a huge gap in
826
00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:58.679
the market of people that are starting to become aware,
827
00:48:58.719 --> 00:49:02.000
they're starting to get educated. I think a lot of
828
00:49:02.559 --> 00:49:05.360
local governments and fire authorities are doing a very good
829
00:49:05.440 --> 00:49:08.079
job on that. Firewise, is doing a very good job
830
00:49:08.119 --> 00:49:12.360
on that. Fire Safe California Fire Safe Council is doing
831
00:49:12.360 --> 00:49:15.039
a very good job at that. So people are starting
832
00:49:15.079 --> 00:49:18.559
to become aware of it and become aware of some
833
00:49:18.599 --> 00:49:19.960
of the things that they need to do.
834
00:49:20.840 --> 00:49:23.280
But there is a gap between.
835
00:49:23.000 --> 00:49:26.039
You know, people that know they need to do permanent
836
00:49:26.039 --> 00:49:29.440
construction updates and are either working on it or can't afford,
837
00:49:29.599 --> 00:49:32.280
you know, quite to do everything that they need to
838
00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:35.679
do right away. So this isn't a replacement for that,
839
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:39.079
but it does fill a gap in the market of
840
00:49:39.320 --> 00:49:43.199
people that can take action now immediately that could actually
841
00:49:43.280 --> 00:49:46.079
save their structure and could reduce that risk.
842
00:49:46.880 --> 00:49:47.800
Okay, so.
843
00:49:49.960 --> 00:49:53.519
Two more questions, you know, how do I buy this stuff?
844
00:49:54.559 --> 00:49:58.519
Where can I buy it? And then the Germans called
845
00:49:58.559 --> 00:50:01.519
do you feel a coff? How much does it cost?
846
00:50:02.559 --> 00:50:02.760
Oh?
847
00:50:02.840 --> 00:50:05.880
Right, you take a two thousand square foot home. There's
848
00:50:05.880 --> 00:50:08.920
a lot bigger homes and smaller homes. But what would
849
00:50:08.920 --> 00:50:12.760
it cost to have all three solutions? Do you buy
850
00:50:12.840 --> 00:50:14.880
all three or you can pick and choose or what?
851
00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:19.440
Yeah, we recommend it as a holistic solution, just like
852
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:23.440
I didn't want to even make the spray available until
853
00:50:23.480 --> 00:50:25.800
there was a solution for the events and the other
854
00:50:25.920 --> 00:50:30.440
gaps because you can treat some vegetation with the fire retardant,
855
00:50:30.840 --> 00:50:33.400
but if embers are getting in through your attic because
856
00:50:33.440 --> 00:50:36.119
you don't have the filter installed, then you know that's
857
00:50:36.320 --> 00:50:40.199
that's a huge disadvantage. So all the products are available
858
00:50:40.239 --> 00:50:46.039
exclusively at Lows. They were very helpful and making it
859
00:50:46.119 --> 00:50:50.800
possible and making it affordable. So the carbon filter is
860
00:50:50.880 --> 00:50:53.920
less than forty dollars and you can get it at
861
00:50:53.960 --> 00:50:57.920
Lows dot com. It's safe soss. A lot of customers
862
00:50:57.960 --> 00:50:59.639
call it safe Sauce endearingly.
863
00:50:59.679 --> 00:51:01.360
But you can get it at.
864
00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:03.280
Lows dot com and get it shipped right to your
865
00:51:03.280 --> 00:51:05.239
house or get it shipped to your local Lows and
866
00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:07.840
go in and pick it up. But the ember guards
867
00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:13.360
are less than forty dollars, the tape is less than
868
00:51:13.360 --> 00:51:15.639
thirty dollars, so you can have a roll or two
869
00:51:15.679 --> 00:51:16.480
of that on hand.
870
00:51:16.920 --> 00:51:20.119
It sounds like twenty nine ninety five would go ahead,
871
00:51:20.920 --> 00:51:21.679
Yeah it is.
872
00:51:21.840 --> 00:51:23.920
I mean, you know it's somewhere around there.
873
00:51:23.960 --> 00:51:27.920
I forget exactly the price, and we tried to make
874
00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:33.159
it very affordable to everybody. And the spray is about
875
00:51:33.199 --> 00:51:38.719
one just under one fifty a gallon and we're, you know,
876
00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:41.840
gon going to try to make that more accessible. But
877
00:51:41.920 --> 00:51:44.880
it comes with the nozzle, the concentrate and the nozzle,
878
00:51:45.239 --> 00:51:47.920
and it's got a five year shelf life, and it's
879
00:51:47.960 --> 00:51:50.199
actually important it comes from Japan.
880
00:51:50.440 --> 00:51:53.400
That's where the chemical and science engineers were that helped.
881
00:51:53.440 --> 00:51:58.000
So you're talking about for a two thousand square foot house,
882
00:51:58.320 --> 00:52:03.000
less than five hundred dollars being able to get you know,
883
00:52:03.159 --> 00:52:05.840
probably two if you have two ad events on a
884
00:52:05.840 --> 00:52:08.360
two thousand square foot house, a couple of rolls of
885
00:52:08.400 --> 00:52:11.880
tape and a gallon or two of the spray to
886
00:52:11.960 --> 00:52:12.800
have on hands.
887
00:52:12.800 --> 00:52:16.679
So it is really affordable in terms.
888
00:52:16.400 --> 00:52:19.000
Of what you can do and a lot of work
889
00:52:19.239 --> 00:52:23.480
and also kind of sacrifice on my part to make
890
00:52:23.519 --> 00:52:24.440
that possible.
891
00:52:24.719 --> 00:52:26.239
I really want to help people.
892
00:52:26.360 --> 00:52:29.400
I'm at a point in my life where i want
893
00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:32.280
to do something that you know, my kids will be
894
00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:34.039
proud of me and I can say that I actually
895
00:52:34.119 --> 00:52:36.119
helped a lot of people. So these are kind of
896
00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:41.039
tools that I wish I had available and that I
897
00:52:41.159 --> 00:52:43.400
use on my own home because I'm typically out on
898
00:52:43.440 --> 00:52:45.880
a flyer when my own home is under a threat
899
00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:49.559
of a fire near me. So I'm hoping that people
900
00:52:50.559 --> 00:52:54.840
will get educated and see the value in this and
901
00:52:55.360 --> 00:52:58.280
be proactive, you know, because a lot of people can
902
00:52:58.639 --> 00:52:59.920
help protect their structures.
903
00:53:00.800 --> 00:53:04.079
How about since we all love free shipping and thinking
904
00:53:04.079 --> 00:53:08.199
about that, gall and Liquid, is Amazon a source forgetting this.
905
00:53:09.079 --> 00:53:13.760
Amazons Yet right now it's exclusively at Lows, but I
906
00:53:13.800 --> 00:53:16.599
do believe that they offer free shipping, and you can
907
00:53:16.639 --> 00:53:20.920
imagine a company like Low's has really good rates and
908
00:53:21.519 --> 00:53:27.000
it's a lot more affordable and accessible to everybody by
909
00:53:27.079 --> 00:53:29.719
making it available at Lows instead of me, you know,
910
00:53:29.840 --> 00:53:32.519
trying to do everything from scratch and reinvent the wheel.
911
00:53:33.239 --> 00:53:35.000
And would that be available.
912
00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:40.559
Nationally or just on the West coast or nationwide throughlows
913
00:53:40.599 --> 00:53:45.199
dot com. And we'll be intellect stores actually come June July,
914
00:53:46.920 --> 00:53:47.960
all through the.
915
00:53:47.880 --> 00:53:50.159
Worst summer weather months.
916
00:53:50.199 --> 00:53:55.519
We'll be in stores from Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah,
917
00:53:55.920 --> 00:53:59.760
Southern California as a heavy concentration probably needs it the most,
918
00:54:01.599 --> 00:54:07.039
so we'll be in selectors as well in wildfire areas well.
919
00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:10.400
I'll close with a lot of times I've had a
920
00:54:10.400 --> 00:54:13.599
few folks like yourself have a product talk about it.
921
00:54:13.639 --> 00:54:17.280
I always say it's not an infomercial, and certainly I
922
00:54:17.280 --> 00:54:20.480
think Nikolay, this has not been an infomercial. We've had
923
00:54:20.519 --> 00:54:24.639
great information and a great tool for people to protect.
924
00:54:25.679 --> 00:54:26.159
They're home.
925
00:54:26.239 --> 00:54:28.559
So I just want to say thank you Nikolai and
926
00:54:28.599 --> 00:54:31.719
Allen for being a guest here on the Disaster Zone podcast.
927
00:54:32.559 --> 00:54:34.800
Thank you so much, and I appreciate what you're doing
928
00:54:34.840 --> 00:54:37.519
as well too, Thank you well.
929
00:54:38.039 --> 00:54:41.559
As we said, wildfires are happening everywhere these days, even
930
00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:46.440
in February and March in Nebraska and out of control
931
00:54:46.519 --> 00:54:51.400
right now burning there in March as we tape this podcast.
932
00:54:51.440 --> 00:54:54.760
So think about your own situation, decide what you can
933
00:54:54.800 --> 00:54:59.679
do today to protect your home using firewise information or
934
00:54:59.719 --> 00:55:04.159
some the products that Nikolai shared with us today. And
935
00:55:04.280 --> 00:55:06.519
now reminder to everyone be safe, to think about what
936
00:55:06.599 --> 00:55:10.559
you could do today to become personally better prepared for
937
00:55:10.639 --> 00:55:11.559
the next disaster.
938
00:55:11.960 --> 00:55:14.800
If you like this Disaster's own podcast.
939
00:55:14.760 --> 00:55:17.719
Please share a link to it with your social media contexts.
940
00:55:18.159 --> 00:55:24.199
Thanks for listening, and be safe.