Blaze heightens house proximity debate

Friday, Aug. 24, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

How close is too close for comfort when it comes to the spaces between houses?

That question has been a source of much debate in Las Vegas in the days since a fire caused $3 million in damage to 17 Spring Valley homes, including six that were occupied.

Clark County fire and public officials argue that proximity is a secondary issue in the Aug. 16 blaze near Peace Way and Durango Drive. The fire burned at 2000 degrees and was fanned by heavy, whipping winds, they say.

The County Commission had granted a variance to the developer to build homes 10 feet apart instead of a required 20 feet after receiving no opposition from fire or building and safety officials.

Critics of homes being built close to one another, however, including one California expert who has served as a consultant on Southern Nevada fires, says any time a developer wants to reduce the required distance between homes, officials should take a serious look at the proposal.

"If you can hear the toilet flush in your neighbor's home, then the houses are too close to each other," said Dave Johnson of Dave Johnson & Associates, an Escondido firm that studies causes and origins of fires. "I'd say there is considerable validity (to those who say the homes were too close together).

"When flames radiate, they cool beyond a certain point. If they are blocked by something before they get to that point -- like another house -- that structure absorbs the heat and reflects it back. So you can't say the closeness of the homes is not a factor. It is."

Johnson, who served as a consultant in the aftermath of the 1998 Gold Strike Inn & Casino blaze near Boulder City, where there was more than $20 million damage to the property, said that in California, homes cannot be built closer than five feet from a property line -- allowing homes to be only 10 feet apart without a variance.

Though that's legal, that's not necessarily safe, Johnson said.

"That's a little too uncomfortable for me," he said.

But county fire department spokesman Bob Leinbach said a 10-foot difference in the variance would not have helped fighting last Friday's fire significantly.

"Would we like to have had more room between the homes? Sure," Leinbach said. "But even another 25 or 50 feet would not have made a difference in this fire." Leinbach noted the cause is still under investigation, but that the results of lab tests of evidence could be available as early as next week.

"The fire was pushed over the wall (built 8 feet from the under-construction homes) by the heavy winds, and it burned at such high temperatures because the sheetrock had not yet been put on the wood. In effect, the wood frames burned like a forest fire with gasoline in the trees."

Leinbach said department chiefs will meet with firefighters who fought the blaze and fire investigators next week to conduct what they call a "critique" of how the blaze was handled.

"We will evaluate whether this was a once-in-a-lifetime incident or something that could happen every day," Leinbach said.

Heavenly Love Way homeowner Dick Grob disagrees with Leinbach, saying flatly, "Yes, the homes were built too close together."

Grob, one of 20 people who had to be put up in Las Vegas hotels after being displaced by the fire, is president of the Day Star Property Owner's Association, which in October 1999 sued Nevada Homes, the builder of his development, claiming construction defects.

The lawsuit alleges improper breaks in firewalls and improper roof construction. About $3 million in damages is sought. The trial is scheduled for February.

The National Fire Protection Association, a 105-year-old Massachusetts-based organization that promotes fire safety, agrees that under the circumstances, the homes may have been built too close together.

"One of our documents recommends a separation of 20 feet between single family homes as a starting point," said Robert Solomon, chief building fire protection engineer for the NFPA. "Another of our documents suggests that if you reduce the distance, you might want to look at potential options.

"One option could be requiring metal shutters for the windows and another might be installing exterior sprinkler systems on the buildings. The closer the houses are, the easier it is for them to ignite."

Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny said the homes that burned were "very typical" of how close the Las Vegas Valley's homes are built. Because real estate is so expensive, developers need to put more units on an acre of land to make them affordable to buyers and profitable to the builders, she said.

"People also are asking for smaller lots so they won't have to deal with big lawns and because of other conveniences," Kenny said.

"When we look at granting zone variances that call for homes to be built closer to one another, the input from the fire department is probably the ultimate hammer regarding approval," she said.

"If there are any concerns expressed by the fire department, they are addressed before we move on. Nothing gets by the County Commission on zone variances."

Kenny said the vote on the variance in question was unanimous and had staff approval and no concerns were expressed by the fire department.

Adrienne Packer contributed to this story.