Engineering360: "Blankets could protect structures from wildfires, study says"

It would be much cheaper, easier and safer to cut back brush, vegetation and install sprinkler systems than to try and wrap an entire house in a thermal blanket while a 50 mph wildfire is ravaging down your street.

Just want to suggest a system to protect house roofs from fire. Not a spray or sprinkler but a pipe along the ridge with holes on either side so that water runs down evenly in direct contact with shingles. Spray and or sprinkling allows flames and heat to evaporate the water before contact to structure. A water "flow" could be adjusted to coat the roof, washing away and extinguishing embers as they arrive and only enough water would be needed so as to not waste. This Pipe could be concealed beneath a "ridge cap" for cosmetic reasons and uv protection as in PVC pipe.

I've seen people spraying down their roofs with garden hoses to prevent ignition but of coarse they would need to escape before the fire reached them. This system could be engineered to at least try to do the same or better autonomously.

Heat sensors, water sensors wind sensors and control valves could all be put into play to accomplish this concept. Contractors who install misting systems and plumbing shops in general could do this work with some engineering input. This system could (and would need to be) tested monthly or so and could done on hot days to cool as well.

This would be expensive and a bit time consuming for average dwellings but in high risk wooded areas I would think it would be a necessity. UJ