May is National Wildfire Awareness Month

By Emma Peterson. 

What roofing professionals need to know about wildfire risk and product performance. 

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Megan Ellsworth hosted Tremco’s Andrew LeCampion and Ron Velichka for a conversation about fire-resistant building materials and products. Wildfires are a growing issue in much of the world, with the U.S. Department of Energy estimating that between 2016 and 2020, the federal government spent $2.5 billion per year on wildfire suppression. And this number is just a small part of the story. Wildfires threaten our communities in many ways each year, either directly through loss of property and life as well as indirectly through respiratory issues and long-lasting environmental pollution. 

The magnitude of this issue is why May has been designated National Wildfire Awareness Month. This month, which precedes fire season for much of the United States, is all about “shedding light on the damaging impact of wildfires, how to prevent them and how to protect yourself this upcoming wildfire season.” And a key part of prevention and protection is building with fire-resistant materials and products. Andrew explained:  

On the product development side there's a lot of new products designed for dynamic fire stopping. For example, there’s a new insulation called mineral wool that is made from crushed and pulled rock and it is the one true non-combustible insulation that we know of; it can be under a fire for hours and hours and then you just cut the flame out, pull it out and the mineral wool is still fully intact. Tremco also uses intumescent sealants, which have a carbon supplement that swells up and cuts off airflow as soon as a flame touches it. 

How do you find these products? An easy way is to look for test ratings from places like Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or Factory Mutual (FM). Ronald explained, “When building, you have to be aware of threats like wildfires and make sure you're putting materials on there that are going to protect the people in the building. And in terms of fire safety, the best way to do that is make sure your assemblies meet UL and FM fire ratings, like Tremco’s products do.” 

You can also work directly with some manufactures to build a fire-safe space. Andrew shared a story of a professional that did that with his team, saying, “I was approached by an architect who had their drawings all ready to go and wanted their fireproofing checked. And we got on the phone with them and walked through the UL400 two-hour fire rating and helped the find the products that would give that standard of protection.” 

Want to learn more about building with fire safety in mind this May? Listen to the whole episode or Watch the recording.