Way too close for comfort

[berjerkin]

Originally Posted by fishstix

That styrofoam has a built in fire retardant. It dosent burn. Those houses are also much warmer and much more quiet.

this is correct. we had a house burn down here a few weeks ago, and all that was left was the styrofoam blocks for the garage walls.

there are a few problems that make house fires so much worse. steel roofs is an issue, due to it contains the heat and does not let the flames out the top of the building.

having houses too close to eachother is a whole other story. there should be a minimum 20 feet between houses to be able to protect the surrounding structures. 50 feet would be better....

[220swifty]

If you are talking ICF, I can't comment on the fire rating, but the 2" extruded foam sheets that some builders were using as exterior sheathing about 3-4 years ago melts pretty easy. Now they are putting it on top of 3/8 OSB, but it still melts.

The new houses in Calgary have 1/2" fibreglass impregnated drywall on exterior walls that are too close to the neighbors, but I still cant see how it will stop a fire, as it seems to go roof to roof.

Good to see all is well, a similar fire happened a few weeks back by our jobsite in Coventry Hills. Scary stuff

[gl2]

glad to hear you and your family are safe adam, if you need anything just let me know.

[32-40win]

I seem to remember hearing something on the mews last summer about the Provincial Fire Marshal getting the required distance between houses changed so that new subdivisions had to have them further apart. Not sure which subdivisions are affected, likely nothing that is currently being built.
Seems strange the insurance companies were not loudly pushing for that earlier. although I suppose it helps raise the rates they can charge.

[howlin]

wow bad damage ,you hear of it all over and not really pay attention but when it strikes close to home it makes you think .your lucky your not in another area of the (any)city that they build them even closer ,scary thought ,could have been much worse.(thats how rome burned)nice to hear everyones safe(although i think i see a suv all burned up it the garage, i hope its not a jimmy)