Sep 3
Copy Write Credit: 
ICF Builder Magazine
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The Aledort residence in Rancho Bernardo, Calif., endured a literal baptism of fire during last fall’s firestorms near San Diego. The fires destroyed more than 2,000 homes, but the Aledort residence survived unscathed, thanks in large part to its fireproof ICF walls.
In most areas of the Unite
d States, the greatest threat to homes and commercial structures is not hurricanes and tornadoes, but wildfire.
The U.S. Fire Administration reports that fire kills more Americans than all natural disasters combined—averaging more than 3,700 people—plus another 20,000 injured—every year in the last decade. Direct property loss due to fires in 2006 is estimated at $11.3 billion.
Fortunately, homes and buildings made from insulating concrete forms (ICFs) offer exceptional protection from the flames.
“Of all construction materials, concrete is one of the most resistant to heat and fire,” reports the Portland Cement Association. “Experience shows that concrete structures are more likely to remain standing through fire than are structures of other materials. Unlike wood, concrete does not burn. Unlike steel, it does not soften and bend.” Laboratory test have shown that while wood frame walls exposed to flames will collapse in an hour or less, ICF walls can withstand the intense heat for four hours or more. Field evidence supports this conclusion.
Built in a rural region of the Oregon Coast, a fire in the Anderson residence garage burned for 35 minutes before the fire department arrived, yet the damage was contained to the garage, and no personal belongings were lost.
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Tony Ellsworth, owner of Ellsworth Bikes in Ramona, California, credits ICFs with saving his business from intense wildfires last fall. The walls of his high-end bicycle manufacturing facility are made from ICFs instead of traditional wood studs and sheet rock The Witch Creek Fire, which tore through the San Diego region last October, is likely the worst natural disaster to ever hit that area. It forced more than half a million people from their homes and destroyed more than 2,000 residences. “In an event like that, the fire departments’ primary concern is saving lives,” says Elllsworth. “To expect a fire truck to be sitting there on the curb just to protect your house is not always realistic.”
Ellsworth’s neighborhood was hit hard. “The flames came right up to the doorstep and completely surrounded the home. Then the winds changed, and the fire came back again,” says Ellsworth. Forced to evacuate during the worst of the fires, he was shocked by the devestation he returned to. “It brought tears to my eyes,” he says. “I was seeing house after house that had been completely leveled, and then there, on top of an absolutely charred hill, was my home and warehouse, virtually unscathed.”
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Ellsworth was first introduced to ICFs when he began building in 2002, and he was so impressed that he became a form distributor. He found that neighbors’ interest in the material skyrocketed after the fires. “Almost immediately, people were asking me to tell them about this.” He organized a “fire survivor workshop” that met weekly to help them sort out rebuilding options, file claims with the insurance industry, and talk about ICFs. “Sustainability means energy conservation and wise use of resources, but it means more than that,” he says. “It means being able to stand up to whatever disasters or threats are likely in your area so you don’t have to rebuild.”
