After losing two homes to wildfires, San Diego couple plans to rebuild......underground!

[marmar]

Does this seem like a good idea in an earthquake-prone area? :shrug:



from the AP, via Chicago Tribune:



After losing 2 homes to fires, couple will dig in to rebuild
By Allison Hoffman | Associated Press Writer
8:52 AM CDT, April 1, 2008


CUYAMACA, Calif. - It will take more than two destroyed homes to get Skip and Linda Miller off the mountaintop property where they've lived for 30 years.

The Millers lost their house to a wildfire in 2003, then rebuilt it, only to watch the replacement house burn to the ground last October in another wildfire. They were the only family in San Diego to lose a house twice on the same spot. Now they plan to build there a third time — only the house will be mostly underground this time.

"That was my house, but this is my home," Skip Miller said, referring to the barren lot, where only two pine trees, an old Volkswagen Beetle and a ceramic garden frog survived last year's flames.

The fires last fall scorched 800 square miles from the Mexican border to the suburbs north of Los Angeles, drawing criticism from fire chiefs and some lawmakers, who blasted developers for building in brush-filled canyons. The flames destroyed nearly 2,200 homes, killed 10 people and forced the evacuation of 500,000 residents.

The Millers' effort to build underground shows how far people will go to continue living in one of the country's most scenic areas, despite the fire risk.

The Millers bought their 10 acres in the Cleveland National Forest in 1978 after giving up their fantasy of living on an island beach. After selling their house in suburban San Diego, they spent three years living on the site in a 28-foot camper with their four children. Skip Miller built the home's wooden geodesic dome himself. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-040108-build-underground-webapr02,1,6154835.story?track=rss

[hobbit709]

1. Building wooden houses in a fireprone area says it all.

[kestrel91316]

2. It's not like they're gonna be living in a CAVE.........

Earth berms are great insulation, and they can have a normal roof and support structure. I think it makes financial and environmental sense.

[Booster]

3. I wouldn't want to be underground in Calif. It's been a long time

since we've had a good size earthquake so we're about due.

[kestrel91316]

6. The house isn't going to be "underground". If you read the description

in the article, it's going to be against a hillside but will have windows on two sides, I think.

Sounds like the ground floor of EVERY home in the hills in CA, lol.

[marmar]

4. But is that a good idea in a geologically unstable area?

Then again, is building on TOP of the ground a good idea in a geologically unstable area?

[kestrel91316]

7. The soil itself is more stable than waving stickbuilt homes

around in the air when the earth shakes. I assume they will build on bedrock and not sediment (which is prone to liquefaction). Duh.

Believe it or not, we DO know how to build to earthquake standards here in CA. As opposed to the folks sitting on New Madrid.......

[Lance_Boyle]

5. I hope this jackass pays out the nose for insurance.

For that matter, out the mouth, ears, ass, urethra and every pore in his body, too. Moron. Subsidized moron.