Misty Mountain Home

by Tonya Tinkham

At Fire Fest 2004 in South Tahoe last September, a crowd assembled around what looked to be a child's playhouse. Suddenly the playhouse sprayed itself with fire retardant. The conversation of the firefighters and business owners surrounding the playhouse turned excited and animated. After all, protecting homes and structures in California from wildfires (and huge fire insurance premiums) is anything but child's play.

In the fire-prone West, a system for the outside of a building that accomplishes what sprinklers do for the inside makes sense, especially for remote homes located in forested areas. The devastating fires of Southern California have put the Golden State in the crosshairs of the insurance industry, with many providers deciding not to write policies for homes in rural areas.

Even in the more urbanized areas of the Tahoe Basin, one can imagine that there are a number of private residences as well as commercial and government buildings that would consider an exterior fire protection system. But the HydroShield concept is so new to the marketplace that it is just beginning to test demand. The company is targeting the Tahoe region as one of its initial launch points, however, so HydroShield may soon be coming to a neighborhood near you.

Sue Abrams has signed up to have a HydroShield system installed on her South Lake Tahoe home this spring. "With our fire conditions in this region," she says, "I wish every home in the Basin could have this product."

At around four dollars a square foot plus monthly monitoring fees of $29.95, a HydroShield purchase may be more emotional than economical. Normal fire insurance can never replace family heirlooms and pictures and a houseful of memories.

Hydroshield components include: roof sprinklers installed at the eaves that spray up to the crown of the roof; sprinklers and piping on the sides of the house that spray under the eaves and down the walls; piping and sprinklers above and below decks and stairways; a canister containing EPA-approved biodegradable fire retardant; a back-up battery; heat sensors; monitoring system and satellite communications.

How do you know that HydroShield won't suddenly spray down your summer barbecue guests or the folks lighting your surprise birthday cake at the front door? The company has very high-tech answers to those questions. The system utilizes wireless fire sensors placed up to 1000 feet away from the home. Satellite communications put every HydroShield in touch with a computer that uses a real-time government map of every fire in the United States larger than ten square feet and then plots the location of the home in relation to the fire(s). In automatic mode, any fire that comes within three miles of a protected structure and is moving in its direction will activate the system, coating the entire building and surrounding property up to 30 feet away. It then remains "on guard" until the fire danger has passed. The homeowner can also go online and monitor the system.

"HydroShield seems like a good product, especially for second home owners or someone who spends a lot of time away from his home," says Jeff Michaels, fire marshal of Lake Valley Fire Department.

For more information on HydroShield visit www.hydroshield.org