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Show Homebuilders urge fire protection By CHERIE HUBER WOODS CROSS-The Home Builders Association meeting at the Red Flame heard a report on seismic and fire protection for homes through proper construction. Mike Blackham, Kayville building inspector and a Farm-ington Farm-ington volunteer fireman, told the group that there artwo kinds of seismic motion, rolling and violent shaking. In this aitea, residents should expect both kinds of movement. move-ment. Blackham said Davis County is in a zone three, and thai, is the reason that a lot of steel is used in footings and foundations. Proper construction using adequate ade-quate length and numbers of foundation foun-dation bolts, plywood sheeting, nailing and bracing all help hold a house together during seismic activity. ac-tivity. Blackham showed slides of good construction techniques and some problems he had found as a building inspector. Sheer strength, he said, is also important because of the high winds common to the area, as well, as to prevent earthquake damage. Blackham said he felt that the recent re-cent earthquake in California would bring upgrades to the building code in 1991. Those upgrades will include in-clude requiring more plywood, closer nailing and more connectors. Proper construction can also stop the spread of fires to attics and between be-tween walls, he said. Proper firebreaks in construction are essential. essen-tial. Smoke detectors are now required re-quired on every level in new construction con-struction and in any remodeling over $1,000. |