CA Town Mandates ‘Fireproof’ Homes, Will This Trend Spread?

There are fire-resistant building materials, but none of them are guaranteed to be 100 percent "fireproof."  But that has not stopped a CA town from passing new ordinances requiring homes be extremely fire-resistant.

Paradise CA was totally destroyed six years ago

Paradise is a small town of just over 8,000 in the Sierra Nevada foothills not far from Sacramento. In 2018, wildfires destroyed nearly every home in town, and killed 85 people.  One of the homes burned is pictured in our story.

Now, since that tragedy new building codes require a number of steps be taken to make homes as fire-resistant as possible.

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According to various building sources, fire-resistant materials such as cement fiber siding, flame-resistant treated timbers and boards, fire-rated drywall, and more extensive use of stone or concrete. Some experts say these items to not necessarily add extensive costs to the construction of the home.

Paradise also has requirements for landscaping and vegetation, including fire zones to keep flames from getting too close to homes.

There's no way to make a home or any building completely fireproof, but those in Paradise say tests done by various companies across the country show the use of fire-resistant materials and careful landscaping around the home can often keep it intact in a wildfire situation.

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Now, some officials in Western WA are suggesting builders look to this tech in areas known for repeated wildfire activity.