More than 18 months after the Los Angeles wildfires, few homes have been rebuilt. Still, building science and innovative materials exist to make homes resilient to wildfire in the future.
When double fires ignited in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods near Los Angeles in January 2025, the resulting devastation ended up as the costliest in U.S. history. Thirty-one people were killed by the fires and 12,000 homes were destroyed. The combined economic losses are estimated at between $76 billion and $131 billion, with insured losses projected between $40 billion and $45 billion, according to research bySweet James Accident Attorneys.
Despite community support for survivors, 18 months later, most remain displaced. In Pacific Palisades, Sweet James’ research found more than 1,400 permits have been issued for rebuilding and more than 1,700 plans have been approved. While construction has begun on more than 400 homes, only two homes have been built.
In Altadena, more than 1,100 permits have been issued, but just four single-family homes have been built, along with one apartment building and three accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
In Malibu, where nearly 600 homes were destroyed, just 22 rebuilding permits have been issued.
One key problem: the gap between insurance claim payouts and the true cost to rebuild. Sweet James researchers estimate the median gap between these payouts and total rebuilding costs ranges from $500,000 to $600,000 per household. In addition, rising construction costs, permit delays and limited supply of materials and workers are slowing progress on rebuilding.
While 72% of survivors said they want to rebuild, the math doesn’t work for too many of them. If they choose to stay, they face an insurance gap. If they choose to sell, they are likely to receive far less than their home’s value before the wildfire. Homes sold as vacant lots after the fire typically went for half their pre-fire values, according to the Sweet James research. Overall, property values across the Palisades and Altadena fell by an estimated $8.3 billion.
Insurability and Resilience
Safety for people and homes is always the top priority for making homes more resilient, but clearly insurance is an important element for financial security and long-term affordability.
Building and retrofitting homes to new codes and to standards that earn the Wildfire Prepared Home designation by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) can generate savings on insurance premiums, according to Ivan O’Neill, co-founder and CEO of Madronus Wildfire Defense.Madronus Wildfire Defense, founded in 2021, works with survivors to rebuild in California and elsewhere, as well as to make new and existing homes more resilient to wildfires throughout the country.
“More importantly, building wildfire resistant homes makes it possible to get insurance at all in some areas,” O’Neill says.
California requires insurance companies to provide premium discounts for homeowners who have invested in resilience measures, he says, which can be as low as 1% or as high as 30% depending on the house and specific features.
Availability of insurance and the cost of insurance directly affect home values, O’Neill says, especially in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) designated areas.
“There’s a growing trend of insurers looking at a home’s location, IBHS hardened home compliance and increased fire resistance construction methods and materials while considering lowering risk and insurance,” says Matt Aebischer, director of growth and innovation – downstream development for Arclin, manufacturer ofFirepoint, a fire-rated sheathing material.
Designing for Resilience
Both design elements and materials can work together to increase wildfire resistance, O’Neill says. One place homeowners can start to build resilience is a self-inspection with theMadronus Capture app.
Rebuilding after a fire is similar to new construction, with the added step of analyzing the original structure and the reasons for its failure, Aesbischer points out.
“A project can achieve a one-hour fire resistant wall rating using only stucco and no fire panel or gypsum due to 7/8” stucco historically passing a one-hour burn test according to code,” he says. “However, thousands of those structures with stucco walls burned in the Eaton fire. Despite that, many homes are currently being rebuilt with that same system. Why different results would be expected is an important question.”
Whether rebuilding, building a new home or retrofitting a home, there are multiple ways to improve a home’s resilience to wildfire.
“There are classifications for code compliance such as Class A resistant, one-hour walls, but there is no comprehensive testing of how walls, windows, doors, roofs and soffits, and other components intersect and perform together,” Aebischer says. “In general, the goal is to meet or exceed code requirements in key categories, based on available budget.”
Homeowners and architects are best served by selecting the level of resilience that they want, recognizing that the higher performance often comes at a higher cost, he says.
However, IBHS and Headwaters Economics recentlystudied the cost of rebuilding in Altadena, California, following the Eaton Fire and found that constructing a wildfire-resistant home adds just 3% to the total cost of the building components that matter most for wildfire mitigation, such as roofing, siding and windows, compared to traditional building methods.
Wildfire Resistance Building Blocks
The cost to design and build a home that meets the Wildfire Prepared Home certification standards is about 2% to 4% more than building a home without those features, O’Neill says. In addition, Madronus helps homeowners identify incremental steps they can take to improve theirresistance to wildfires, such as:
Landscaping: Ideally,it’s best to site a home at least 30 feet away from neighboring structures, including an ADU, shed or detached garage, O’Neill says. A buffer of at least five feet from the house of noncombustible materials such as metal or concrete is mandatory to be wildfire resistant, but O’Neill says science shows 10 feet is better. “You just need to swap the paradigm and put the walkway next to your house like a moat of concrete, then foundation plants on the exterior of that moat,” O’Neill says. The National Garden Bureau offers tips for climate resilient gardening, including how to design a defensible space around your home and increase fire resistance.
Walls: Non-combustible fiber cement siding and non-combustible sheathing work well to protect a house, O’Neill says, along with metal framing. “Currently, a project can meet WUI requirements using Class A siding, such as fiber cement, or it can use a tested one-hour wall assembly, which is the preferred approach,” Aebischer says. “AnArclin Firepoint fire resistant wall systemis installed as normal structural sheathing and works with nearly all cladding and siding to offer increased resistance. In many assemblies that resistance can be 50-100% more than code, while offering a simple to install product that is weather resilient during construction and reduces layers on the project.” Firepoint standard assemblies can be used in any geography in the United States, but code will dictate which cladding/siding and what insulation can be used in accordance with local fire and energy codes, he says.
Vents and interfaces: Going ventless and avoiding any perforations in the building envelope where an ember can slip in is crucial, O’Neill says. Homeowners should check for little gaps in their sheathing that can be vulnerable to embers and minimize the use of wood.
Roofing: In California, Class A fire-rated roofs are required everywhere, O'Neill says. Most roofs, including asphalt, concrete, clay and metal roofs, can be fire-rated. In addition, Westlake Royal Building Products introducedFYRATEK, a fire-and-ember resistant roofing underlayment to use in wildfire-prone regions with concrete and clay tile and roof systems. FYRATEK, which is Class A fire-rated when used with tile roof coverings, features a non-combustible aluminum surface engineered to reflect heat and help prevent burning embers from igniting the wood roof deck and building structure. The product is listed for use in California’s WUI. While most tile roof systems have a Class A fire rating, FYRATEK provides an additional layer of wildfire defense at the deck level.
Deck: A deck can be one of the most vulnerable points in a home, but unfortunately there’s no standard requirement in California to make them resilient, O’Neill says. “A house can be built to be noncombustible but that can be undone by a traditional deck,” he says.
Windows: Windows are a significant vulnerability in a wildfire, but there are several ways to improve their performance, including 20-minute window systems, tempered glass, multilayer glass and other options, according to Aebischer. Zola, for instance, offers triple-pane glass with all three layers tempered, which will provide greater resistance than a code compliant double-pane, non-tempered system that meets the minimum multi-layered acceptance criteria, he says. “Avoid vinyl window frames, which are weaker, and choose aluminum, metal or fiberglass,” O’Neill says.
“Assessing the budget and applying incremental resistance beyond the previous design and beyond minimum code requirements is crucial,” Aebischer says. “This includes walls, doors, windows, soffits and other key components. I also believe there should be fire inspection experts involved to review both the design and construction, including both plan reviews and on-site inspections.”
Publisher’s Note: This content is made possible by our Today’s Homeowner Campaign Sponsor: ProVia.
Rising from the Ashes: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the Fires
More than 18 months after the Los Angeles wildfires, few homes have been rebuilt. Still, building science and innovative materials exist to make homes resilient to wildfire in the future.
When double fires ignited in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena neighborhoods near Los Angeles in January 2025, the resulting devastation ended up as the costliest in U.S. history. Thirty-one people were killed by the fires and 12,000 homes were destroyed. The combined economic losses are estimated at between $76 billion and $131 billion, with insured losses projected between $40 billion and $45 billion, according to research by Sweet James Accident Attorneys.
Despite community support for survivors, 18 months later, most remain displaced. In Pacific Palisades, Sweet James’ research found more than 1,400 permits have been issued for rebuilding and more than 1,700 plans have been approved. While construction has begun on more than 400 homes, only two homes have been built.
In Altadena, more than 1,100 permits have been issued, but just four single-family homes have been built, along with one apartment building and three accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
In Malibu, where nearly 600 homes were destroyed, just 22 rebuilding permits have been issued.
One key problem: the gap between insurance claim payouts and the true cost to rebuild. Sweet James researchers estimate the median gap between these payouts and total rebuilding costs ranges from $500,000 to $600,000 per household. In addition, rising construction costs, permit delays and limited supply of materials and workers are slowing progress on rebuilding.
While 72% of survivors said they want to rebuild, the math doesn’t work for too many of them. If they choose to stay, they face an insurance gap. If they choose to sell, they are likely to receive far less than their home’s value before the wildfire. Homes sold as vacant lots after the fire typically went for half their pre-fire values, according to the Sweet James research. Overall, property values across the Palisades and Altadena fell by an estimated $8.3 billion.
Insurability and Resilience
Safety for people and homes is always the top priority for making homes more resilient, but clearly insurance is an important element for financial security and long-term affordability.
Building and retrofitting homes to new codes and to standards that earn the Wildfire Prepared Home designation by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) can generate savings on insurance premiums, according to Ivan O’Neill, co-founder and CEO of Madronus Wildfire Defense. Madronus Wildfire Defense, founded in 2021, works with survivors to rebuild in California and elsewhere, as well as to make new and existing homes more resilient to wildfires throughout the country.
“More importantly, building wildfire resistant homes makes it possible to get insurance at all in some areas,” O’Neill says.
California requires insurance companies to provide premium discounts for homeowners who have invested in resilience measures, he says, which can be as low as 1% or as high as 30% depending on the house and specific features.
Availability of insurance and the cost of insurance directly affect home values, O’Neill says, especially in Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) designated areas.
“There’s a growing trend of insurers looking at a home’s location, IBHS hardened home compliance and increased fire resistance construction methods and materials while considering lowering risk and insurance,” says Matt Aebischer, director of growth and innovation – downstream development for Arclin, manufacturer of Firepoint, a fire-rated sheathing material.
Designing for Resilience
Both design elements and materials can work together to increase wildfire resistance, O’Neill says. One place homeowners can start to build resilience is a self-inspection with the Madronus Capture app.
Rebuilding after a fire is similar to new construction, with the added step of analyzing the original structure and the reasons for its failure, Aesbischer points out.
“A project can achieve a one-hour fire resistant wall rating using only stucco and no fire panel or gypsum due to 7/8” stucco historically passing a one-hour burn test according to code,” he says. “However, thousands of those structures with stucco walls burned in the Eaton fire. Despite that, many homes are currently being rebuilt with that same system. Why different results would be expected is an important question.”
Whether rebuilding, building a new home or retrofitting a home, there are multiple ways to improve a home’s resilience to wildfire.
“There are classifications for code compliance such as Class A resistant, one-hour walls, but there is no comprehensive testing of how walls, windows, doors, roofs and soffits, and other components intersect and perform together,” Aebischer says. “In general, the goal is to meet or exceed code requirements in key categories, based on available budget.”
Homeowners and architects are best served by selecting the level of resilience that they want, recognizing that the higher performance often comes at a higher cost, he says.
However, IBHS and Headwaters Economics recently studied the cost of rebuilding in Altadena, California, following the Eaton Fire and found that constructing a wildfire-resistant home adds just 3% to the total cost of the building components that matter most for wildfire mitigation, such as roofing, siding and windows, compared to traditional building methods.
Wildfire Resistance Building Blocks
The cost to design and build a home that meets the Wildfire Prepared Home certification standards is about 2% to 4% more than building a home without those features, O’Neill says. In addition, Madronus helps homeowners identify incremental steps they can take to improve their resistance to wildfires, such as:
Landscaping: Ideally, it’s best to site a home at least 30 feet away from neighboring structures, including an ADU, shed or detached garage, O’Neill says. A buffer of at least five feet from the house of noncombustible materials such as metal or concrete is mandatory to be wildfire resistant, but O’Neill says science shows 10 feet is better. “You just need to swap the paradigm and put the walkway next to your house like a moat of concrete, then foundation plants on the exterior of that moat,” O’Neill says. The National Garden Bureau offers tips for climate resilient gardening, including how to design a defensible space around your home and increase fire resistance.
Walls: Non-combustible fiber cement siding and non-combustible sheathing work well to protect a house, O’Neill says, along with metal framing. “Currently, a project can meet WUI requirements using Class A siding, such as fiber cement, or it can use a tested one-hour wall assembly, which is the preferred approach,” Aebischer says. “An Arclin Firepoint fire resistant wall system is installed as normal structural sheathing and works with nearly all cladding and siding to offer increased resistance. In many assemblies that resistance can be 50-100% more than code, while offering a simple to install product that is weather resilient during construction and reduces layers on the project.” Firepoint standard assemblies can be used in any geography in the United States, but code will dictate which cladding/siding and what insulation can be used in accordance with local fire and energy codes, he says.
Vents and interfaces: Going ventless and avoiding any perforations in the building envelope where an ember can slip in is crucial, O’Neill says. Homeowners should check for little gaps in their sheathing that can be vulnerable to embers and minimize the use of wood.
Roofing: In California, Class A fire-rated roofs are required everywhere, O'Neill says. Most roofs, including asphalt, concrete, clay and metal roofs, can be fire-rated. In addition, Westlake Royal Building Products introduced FYRATEK, a fire-and-ember resistant roofing underlayment to use in wildfire-prone regions with concrete and clay tile and roof systems. FYRATEK, which is Class A fire-rated when used with tile roof coverings, features a non-combustible aluminum surface engineered to reflect heat and help prevent burning embers from igniting the wood roof deck and building structure. The product is listed for use in California’s WUI. While most tile roof systems have a Class A fire rating, FYRATEK provides an additional layer of wildfire defense at the deck level.
Deck: A deck can be one of the most vulnerable points in a home, but unfortunately there’s no standard requirement in California to make them resilient, O’Neill says. “A house can be built to be noncombustible but that can be undone by a traditional deck,” he says.
Windows: Windows are a significant vulnerability in a wildfire, but there are several ways to improve their performance, including 20-minute window systems, tempered glass, multilayer glass and other options, according to Aebischer. Zola, for instance, offers triple-pane glass with all three layers tempered, which will provide greater resistance than a code compliant double-pane, non-tempered system that meets the minimum multi-layered acceptance criteria, he says. “Avoid vinyl window frames, which are weaker, and choose aluminum, metal or fiberglass,” O’Neill says.
“Assessing the budget and applying incremental resistance beyond the previous design and beyond minimum code requirements is crucial,” Aebischer says. “This includes walls, doors, windows, soffits and other key components. I also believe there should be fire inspection experts involved to review both the design and construction, including both plan reviews and on-site inspections.”
Publisher’s Note: This content is made possible by our Today’s Homeowner Campaign Sponsor: ProVia.
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By Michele Lerner, Associate Editor
Michele Lerner is an award-winning freelance writer, editor, and author who writes about real estate, personal finance, and business.Also Read