Can "green building" also be Firewise?

I attended a Regional Area Safety Task Force (RAST) Conference this summer in southern California.  One of the presenters was Stephen L. Quarles, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at IBHS, a Fire Adapted Communities coalition member.  He gave an informative presentation about looking at developing green building concepts that would also be Firewise.  For more information about Firewise building see http://www.firewise.org/. 

We decided to redo the porch on our 1928 cabin.  The old wood porch was in bad condition.  We looked at recycled plastic composite decking materials at our local hardware store.  Some of these materials have been developed for fire resistance and are rated class A.  We checked for class A materials and followed the reccomendations for proper installation.  Now we have a deck that is not only used recycled materials (is green), but also meets CAL FIRE recommendations for fire safety.  We also make sure that we keep the area under and around the porch maintained and clean.  My cat Mia loves the outcome!

--Faith Berry