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D. These dry climatic conditions and winds contribute to the rapid spread of <br />even small fires originating in high- density housing or vegetation. These <br />fires spread very quickly and create a need for increased levels of fire <br />protection. The added protection of fire sprinkler systems and other fire <br />protection features will supplement normal fire department response by <br />providing immediate protection for the building occupants and by <br />containing and controlling the fire spread to the area of origin. Fire <br />sprinkler systems will also reduce the use of water for firefighting by as <br />much as 50 to 75 percent. <br />H. Topographical conditions <br />A. Natural; slopes of 15 percent or greater generally occur throughout the <br />foothills of Orange County. The elevation change cause by the hills <br />creates the geological foundation on which communities with Orange <br />County is built and will continue to build. With much of the populated <br />flatlands already built upon, future growth will occur steeper slopes and <br />greater constraints in terrain. <br />B. Traffic and circulation congestion is an artificially created, obstructive <br />topographical condition, which is common throughout Orange County. <br />C. These topographical conditions combine to create a situation, which <br />places fire department response time to fire occurrences at risk, and <br />makes it necessary to provide automatic on -site fire - extinguishing systems <br />and other protection measures to protect occupants and property. <br />III. Geological Conditions <br />The Orange County region is a densely populated area that has buildings <br />constructed over and near a vast and complex network of faults that are <br />believed to be capable of producing future earthquakes similar or greater in <br />size that the 1994 Northridge and the 1971 Sylmar earthquakes. Earthquake <br />faults run along the northeast and southwest boundaries of Orange County. <br />The Newport- Inglewood Fault, located within Orange County was the source <br />of the destructive 1933 Long Beach earthquake (6.3 magnitude) which took <br />120 lives and damaged buildings in an area from Laguna Beach to Marina <br />Del Rey to Whittier. In December 1989, another earthquake occurred in the <br />jurisdiction of Irvine at an unknown fault line. Regional planning for <br />reoccurrence of earthquakes is recommended by the state of California, <br />Department of Conservation. <br />A. Previous earthquakes have been accompanied by disruption of traffic flow <br />and fires. A severe seismic event has the potential to negatively impact <br />any rescue or fire suppression activities because it is likely to create <br />obstacles similar to those indicated under the high wind section above. <br />Resolution No. 2013 -052 <br />Page 3 of 10 <br />