Blazeguard Guards against Minnesota Wildfires

While California and Florida may be among the first states that come to mind when you hear the term "wildfire," a forest fire along the Gunflint Trail in northern Minnesota last summer claimed more than 16,500 acres and destroyed dozens of houses and other structures, resulting in millions of dollars in damages and a forced evacuation.

Last week Barrier got a close-up look at two northern Minnesota structures using Blazeguard to both protect against fire damage as well as meet other architectural, design and efficiency goals.

The first structure is a private cabin on Lake Everett, northeast of Ely, Minn. This lake home uses Blazeguard-coated Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for its entire roof deck. SIP panels consist a layer of solid foam insulation sandwiched between two pieces of oriented strand board (OSB). One face of the OSB is coated with Blazeguard, providing not only the required 15-minute thermal barrier for any foam-core insulated panel, but also a visually pleasing white finish.



















The cabin's internal cathedral ceilings are simply the underside a SIP covered with a layer of white paint, with its seams covered with battens. In addition to adding a visually pleasing and slightly rustic finish, the SIP panels offer increased energy efficiency -- along with energy-efficient lighting and windows, the cabin's roof deck panels offer enough insulation so that this cabin, in the far northern reaches of the country, can be and is completely solar-powered and "off the electrical grid" for lighting and heat.

A second structure to the west of Ely is a new luxury lake home being built with a layer of 3/8" plywood covered on both sides with Blazeguard. The owner of this new cabin is building a structure that is "top of the line" in all construction details and practices. This owner has plans for several more buildings on the property and has instructed the builder to use Blazeguard throughout as a way to protect this significant investment from the ravages of wildfires while not in use.

Look for more information or further details on these projects as they develop and as Barrier gets clearance to release owner, designer or architect information or details. In the meantime, as wildfire season grows from coast to coast and in between, Barrier is investing time and effort in ways to use Blazeguard to save homes, property and lives in and around wildfire-prone areas.Fire-rated sheathing, town homes, multi-family construction, housing market, small cap, otcbb, ibtgf, barrier, blazeguard, mycoguard, fire-rated paint, intumescent paint, mold, mildew, fire-retardant plywood, frt, sips, structurally insulated panels, fire-rated wall assemblies, commercial modular, modular home construction, green building products, LEED, control room, electrical panel backer board, SIPs; wildfire protection, resort, cabin, forest fire