Advocates push for mandatory retrofitting of existing homes in fire zones ...Middle East

For years, fire prevention groups have pushed residents to harden homes in wildfire-prone areas.

With the frequency and severity of such blazes on the rise, people need to replace old vents, roofs and windows with upgrades that protect their home against a whirlwind of heat and embers during a conflagration, they say.

Yet limited incentives exist to spur homeowners to take on the expense of such upgrades.

Now, with the memory of Los Angeles County’s firestorms still fresh, public interest groups are urging local leaders to make such retrofits mandatory.

Last month, the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety called on L.A. city and county leaders to require retrofits for surviving homes in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.

Also see: What is ‘home hardening’? Fire-resistant walls, roofs, windows and landscaping

“Existing homes that survived the Palisades and Eaton fires also contribute to Los Angeles’ wildfire risk,” the insurance institute said in an open letter April 8. “At minimum, these homes must take … mitigation actions to contribute to a more survivable and insurable future.”

The insurance-backed research group also called for incentives and financial assistance to cover homeowners’ retrofitting costs.

In March, the Urban Land Institute issued a report called “Project Recovery,” calling on state and local leaders to “bridge the gap” in fire-hardening building codes.

While new construction in fire zones must comply with California’s wildfire building code, existing homes do not, said the report, which was prepared in conjunction with UCLA and USC.

Also see: California rules will require more fire resistant homes in Palisades, Altadena

More than 90% of the Altadena and Pacific Palisades homes were built before the wildfire building codes fully took effect in 2008, U.S. Census figures show.

“If you have an old house and you’re doing minor renovation, it may not trigger that upgrade,” said Darcy Coleman, a commercial real estate executive who worked on the Project Recovery report. “There is a major risk gap there.”

The January fires destroyed more than 11,000 homes, according to the Los Angeles County Assessor’s Office.

But 38%-42% of the houses in the Palisades and Eaton fire zones — more than 7,300 single-family homes — escaped with little to no structural damage.

New state fire maps released in recent months show that roughly 3.7 million people — or one out of 10 Californians — live in areas prone to wildfires, according to a CalMatters report.

In Southern California, at least 1,766 square miles have been designated as having a “high” or “very high” wildfire risk, accounting for almost half of the state’s most fire-prone areas.

Related: Newsom tells forestry board to speed up rules for ember-free zones

Retrofitting older homes can be expensive. A minimal retrofitting can range from $10,000 to $15,000 for a 2,000-square-foot house, according to a 2024 study by Headwaters Economics.

Such a retrofit would include installation of flame- and ember-resistant vents, metal flashing where walls meet the ground or decks, metal guards covering rain gutters and replacing bark mulch with gravel next to a house.

The cost to completely retrofit a 2,000-square-foot home, the study found, would be $23,000 to $40,000.

The insurance institute urged city and county leaders to develop a grant program to assist homeowners in paying for retrofits.

“These fires aren’t anomalies, … and we really need to be prepared for when they do occur,” said Steve Hawks, a former Cal Fire official now serving as the insurance institute’s wildfire director. “If a home needs a significant number of retrofits, that could be costly. Some homeowners would likely need some financial assistance.”

Inspection uptick

Several homeowners agreed they couldn’t pay for retrofits without assistance.

“That’s a big ask, especially when insurance is not stepping up to do anything,” said Kambiz Kamdar, a Pacific Palisades builder whose own home survived the wildfire but needs several upgrades. “If the state or the city or whoever wants to step in and provide grants or funds or whatever, I’m sure people will be happy to take it.”

On the other hand, others are willing to pay out of pocket if it means surviving a nightmare like January’s firestorms.

Lisa and Ken Drew recently spent thousands creating a non-flammable buffer around their two-story house in Upland, tearing out beach daisies and aloe plants next the house, widening a cement walkway and replacing bark mulch with gravel.

On April 24, the Drews paid more than $500 to have Trident Inspection Group evaluate their home in hopes of getting a small insurance discount. They had more than money on their minds.

“We’re worried about the hills up there,” Lisa Drew, 69, a retired teacher, said while pointing north to the San Gabriel Mountains. The very-high fire zone ringing those mountains lies just 2 miles from the Drews’ house, the same distance as homes that burned in Altadena.

Last September, the Drews watched in horror as flames from the 56,000-acre Bridge fire crested the ridge atop those nearby mountains.

Should a firestorm erupt in their neighborhood, said Drew, a firefighter’s daughter, “we would like to be the ones whose house is still standing.”

The Drews aren’t the only ones fire-hardening their homes.

Trident has seen an uptick in inquiries and inspections since the L.A. firestorms, said Jeff Clark, the company’s owner. The Orange County firm conducted more than a dozen inspections at homes that survived the fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

Business has doubled for another wildfire firm, All Risk Shield, said company owner Joe Torres.

“Those fires kind of gave folks a reality check,” Torres said of the January blazes. “It doesn’t matter where you are, where you live, here in California there’s high susceptibility to fire risks. … People are realizing, I should do something about this.”

‘Hardening the envelope’

To make a home fire resistant, you need to “harden the envelope,” retrofitting guides say.

The insurance institute recommends that at a minimum, existing homes should have:

— A Class A, fire-resistant roof, with metal rain gutters, downspouts and gutter covers.

— Ember-resistant vents with one-eighth-inch mesh.

— Six inches of noncombustible material at the base of all exterior walls to keep accumulating embers from igniting the walls.

— A 100-foot zone of “defensible space” outside the home, including a five-foot non-flammable buffer surrounding the dwelling.

Tests at fire labs show that these upgrades can improve a home’s survivability, Hawks said.

The internet offers a wide array of retrofitting guides from such agencies as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (or Cal Fire) to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the insurance institute’s Wildfire Prepared program.

In addition, there’s pending legislation to help homeowners pay for retrofitting.

The California Safe Homes grant program, backed by the state Insurance Department, would create grants for low-income homeowners who install fire-safe roofs or create a five-foot noncombustible zone around their homes.

Two others would create state and federal tax credits for fire-hardening.

The Fire Safe Home Tax Credits Act would create state tax breaks through 2030 covering half the cost of retrofitting against fires. Homeowners could get up to $5,000 in high fire hazard zones and up to $10,000 in very-high fire hazard zones. The credits are limited to single filers earning up to $70,000 a year and to couples earning up to $140,000 a year.

The Firewall Act, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, would create a federal tax credit for half of the cost for improvements to protect against wildfires and other natural disasters, maxing out at $25,000 for homeowners earning less than $200,000 a year, with gradually smaller maximums for those earning up to $300,000 a year.

A 2021 report by the Southern California nonprofit Environment Now found that less than 4% of California’s wildfire budget that year was designated for “community hardening.”

“Even though home retrofits offer some of the most effective tools for increasing public safety during wildfires,” the report said, “that approach is still getting the crumbs from the actual expenditures.”

‘We’re lucky’

Pacific Palisades resident Peter Cohan installed 22 ember-resistant vents at his home around five or six years ago. He also landscaped his yard with succulents and installed stone terraces and pebbles around the perimeter of his house. 

When the smoke cleared in January, his house was still standing.

The vents alone cost $4,200. But he credits the upgrades with saving his home.

“I would do it every day of the year,” he said.

Another homeowner, Robert Dickey, 66, couldn’t tell you why his 76-year-old home survived.

“We’re lucky,” Dickey said. “About four or five houses down, everything’s gone.”

The Dickeys plan to replace all their attic and crawl-space vents with modern, ember-resistant versions. They’re also considering other retrofits, but only up to a point.

“We don’t have unlimited funds to do this,” he said.

And he wonders whether a thorough retrofit will be worth the money for him and his wife.

Schools, churches and stores are gone, he said. By the time the neighborhood comes back, “we will probably be really old by then.”

“So, to do a retrofit proactively that’s going to help us for the next 30 years, I don’t think we would probably do that.”

Vulnerable to fire

It took Trident’s Jeff Clark 90 minutes to evaluate the Drews’ house. He launched a drone, crawled up on the roof and walked all around the yard with a tape measure and a clipboard.

“Your house is well prepared,” he told the Drews afterward. But, he added, “if I had to give it a grade, it would be a B.”

The home, Clark said, still has vulnerabilities.

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Shrubs beneath a backyard sycamore need to be removed to keep flames from “laddering” up into the tree branches, Clark said. Pine needles need to be cleaned out from under the solar panels at least twice a year.

In addition, metal covers are needed to keep dry leaves out of rain gutters. Vents need updating. And while the Drews have dual-pane windows, they’re made from safety glass, instead of shatter-resistant tempered glass.

But, Clark conceded, there are limits to what any homeowner can accomplish. At a minimum of $50 per linear foot, enclosing the eaves could be a budget buster, costing $9,000 or more.

“That’s where budget and practicality comes in,” Clark said.

The Drews said they would do what they could to make their home more survivable and lower their insurance costs.

“It’s the long-term benefits that we were looking at as climate change makes Southern California hotter and drier,” Lisa Drew said. “We want to make sure that we are doing everything possible to keep getting insured and to get the lowest rates they’re willing to offer.”

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