fire chief brian marshall says he didn't have enough fire engines in the county to protect every vulnerablef marshall: maybe a 100 foot of defensible space isn't enough for this house. but it didn't have any. >> inskeep: if you were just driving through kern county, you might think it's completely random that this house burned, and this one didn't. the owner says it's not. it's the house of fred roach, that retired forest service firefighter. >> roach: this house right here was prepared and did not need the air tanker full of retardant or the helicopter full of water or all the engines to protect it. it, it was-- it protects itself. >> inskeep: fred roach thought about fire when improving his home, and says anyone can do what he did. >> roach: the house was stucco'ed about five years ago. and we stucco'ed everything under the eaves, the entire thing. >> inskeep: stucco's basically fireproof-- >> roach: basically, yeah. >> inskeep: --close to it? >> roach: close to it. and then, we took all the redwood decking off the deck, and replaced it with synthetic. >> inskeep: which doesn't burn nearl