Which parts of Irvine are least fire-prone

bananaphone

New member
Hello all.  Newbie from the East Coast here.  Moved for work, renting for a year or two while trying to orient myself and figure out where to buy a SFR.

My husband and I recently visited the Legado model homes at Portola Springs.  While discussing the neighborhood with the desk lady, my husband mentioned offhand the risk of fire.

"Well," said the desk lady, "there is that.  But do you think that stops ANYONE from buying here?"

It could definitely stop me.  Back East I once lived on a riverbank, in FEMA flood zone A.  Daily life was absolutely beautiful.  But occasionally there was a flood, and then life turned upside down for a while.  As a young single person I didn't mind at all; I had little to lose except some cheap furniture.  But now with small kids...

Anyway, to my question.

I have been looking at the fire risk map, as well as older threads here, and trying to understand which areas of Irvine might be at the least risk for fire.  I would have guessed West Irvine; it's not backed up to mountains or canyons, and doesn't seem to have a large amount of dry vegetation.  But then I see that West Irvine was evacuated in 2007 and came close again in 2017.

Any thoughts?
 
bananaphone said:
Hello all.  Newbie from the East Coast here.  Moved for work, renting for a year or two while trying to orient myself and figure out where to buy a SFR.

My husband and I recently visited the Legado model homes at Portola Springs.  While discussing the neighborhood with the desk lady, my husband mentioned offhand the risk of fire.

"Well," said the desk lady, "there is that.  But do you think that stops ANYONE from buying here?"

It could definitely stop me.  Back East I once lived on a riverbank, in FEMA flood zone A.  Daily life was absolutely beautiful.  But occasionally there was a flood, and then life turned upside down for a while.  As a young single person I didn't mind at all; I had little to lose except some cheap furniture.  But now with small kids...

Anyway, to my question.

I have been looking at the fire risk map, as well as older threads here, and trying to understand which areas of Irvine might be at the least risk for fire.  I would have guessed West Irvine; it's not backed up to mountains or canyons, and doesn't seem to have a large amount of dry vegetation.  But then I see that West Irvine was evacuated in 2007 and came close again in 2017.

Any thoughts?

West Irvine is probably safer believe it or not. You got headquarter OC Fire training station, right on Jamboree and TustinRanch. This is a sophisticated training facilities for OC and they are always ready to acts. They would not let that place becomes victim of wild fire.
 
Irvinecommuter said:
Probably woodbridge
I'd add WestparkI+II, Deerfield, University Park, Oak Creek and any other centrally located hood to that list.

Any place that's close to "wilderness" is at risk of fire, parts of Turtle Rock were evacuated a few decades back because of fire danger.

Hoods that are surrounded by other hoods will need the fire to actually be set within their hood and there has to be enough accelerant/fuel to be widespread.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Irvinecommuter said:
Probably woodbridge
I'd add WestparkI+II, Deerfield, University Park, Oak Creek and any other centrally located hood to that list.

Any place that's close to "wilderness" is at risk of fire, parts of Turtle Rock were evacuated a few decades back because of fire danger.

Hoods that are surrounded by other hoods will need the fire to actually be set within their hood and there has to be enough accelerant/fuel to be widespread.

Although Orchard Hills and Portola Spring developers have done a great job at clearing the brushes and trees lands for new homes building and as long as these continue as neighborhood mature then it will abate fire danger. You can see those homes that still standing in the middle of the fire storms is because they got fire brush clearance and non vented eaves on the roof. It?s always easier to prevent than to fix or fight fire.
 
I was surprised at where the houses burned in Santa Rosa. With high winds, sandwiched houses and eucalyptus tress, I don't think any place is completely safe. I would look for newer homes built with the most up-to-date fire codes.
 
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