Those neighborhoods of high density homes are marketed as an affordable way to own a single-family home. Many new and young, first-time buyers love the freedom from yard work and the sense of old-fashioned community. However, there are potential risks to buying into some of these communities. The most dangerous of which is the chance that a fire could spread within an instant from one home to the next. Research done by the National Fire Protection Association in 2004 sheds some light on the issue. The lab tested how quickly fire spread between two mocked-up exterior walls six feet apart, typical of developments where three-foot setbacks from property lines are required. In the government test, it took three minutes and 42 seconds from the fire’s start for flames to break out a window. Then, in just 80 seconds more, flames leaped across the six-foot divide and ignited the neighboring building.

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