While many developers, lenders, architects, philanthropies and local governments have rolled out programs and plans for those who lost homes during the Eaton Fire, one nonprofit set its sights on supporting homes that survived.
Global Emergency Relief, Recovery & Reconstruction (GER3) launched a program to retrofit more than five dozen Altadena homes, free of charge, to meet the wildfire safety standards set forth by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). After soliciting applications in August, GER3 has been retrofitting about four homes per week, said Calley Bilgram, GER3’s Los Angeles program lead.
“We initially saw that there was a lot of talk of reconstruction and how to rebuild resiliently, but there’s a neighborhood approach to how you build resilience,” Bilgram said. “So, we decided to look at the support that existing homes need to have for a more resilient community and a more resilient home.”
Depending on what the home already has, GER3’s retrofits tackle a variety of services. These include installing five feet of defensible space with gravel and concrete, fire-rated roofs and noncombustible materials in the area where the walls of the home meet the base.
The focus of GER3’s retrofit model “is reducing the threat from the embers that are lofted into the air and carried very long distances from the wind,” said Steve Hawks, senior director for wildfire at IBHS. “And so, this addresses all the vulnerable components of the house to those ember exposures.”
The cost is about $15,500 per home, including labor, and it takes about five days to complete, Bilgram said. GER3 works with Rebuild Altadena as its contractor, which provides laborers from the Pasadena Job Center and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.
Upon announcing the offering to the community, GER3 received more than 300 applications. With the funding available to the nonprofit, GER3 was able to cover the cost of more than 60 homes – 49 of which have successfully undergone the retrofitting process.
To determine who to select for the program – which is only available to those with standing structures – GER3 considered income, physical limitations, insurance and other risk factors with the goal of selecting those most in need. For those not selected this time around, Bilgram said GER3 created a waitlist in the event they receive more funding.
For Jean Hooper, a GER3 applicant who has lived in Altadena for 15 years, the program was “heartening,” she said. While she didn’t lose her home to the January wildfires, the Santa Ana winds had peeled off part of her roof which paved the way for subsequent rain to ruin her flooring and some of her furniture. That coupled with smoke damage put her out about $25,000 – none of which was covered by insurance.
In seeing the subtle transformation of her property, Hooper said the process was full of “simple steps, but woven together, it gives you peace of mind.
“It helps me look at things a little differently and not feel so paralyzed,” she said. “Another fire or windstorm would be scary but (if it does happen) at least I can say I woke up and tried to ready things as best I could.”
The number of defense strategies in place makes a difference.
IBHS research found that homes with the “four key hardening features,” which they identified as “Class A roof, noncombustible siding, double-pane windows and enclosed eaves,” were 50% more likely to avoid damage than if just one of those features were in place.
“Wildfire doesn’t sweep through in a perfect line. It finds weak spots, one by one,” said Murray Morrison, managing director of research at IBHS. “These damage patterns allow us to see where homeowners have real opportunities to interrupt that chain of conflagration, protect their homes and protect their neighbors.”
Hawks underscored that in addition to the protection retrofitting brings to Hooper’s own home, it also works to keep her neighbors safer.
“Each house that ignites produces extreme amounts of radiant heat and flames and a lot of embers, which are much bigger in size than the ones created by burning vegetation,” Hawks said.
These large embers can pose significant risk to neighboring homes and structures as the wind blows them onto nearby properties.
“But when you stop a home from igniting, it has a positive impact for the buildings that surround it,” Hawks added.
While updates to fire codes have set much higher building standards over the years – particularly for areas deemed fire prone – there aren’t any requirements for retrofitting existing homes.
“That’s why it’s so important to have programs available for homeowners like the work GER3 is doing here – helping homeowners that are in need of retrofitting – because wildfire mitigation starts at the parcel level, but it has to be done across entire neighborhoods,” Hawks said.
Excluding those able to retrofit with GER3’s free program, the cost to implement these systems can be a deterrent for homeowners. It’s worth noting that GER3’s $15,500 per home cost estimate is also getting homes to IBHS’s base level certification – which means opting for a more complex retrofit is even pricier.
Renzo Pali – director of operations at SPF:a, an architecture firm based in Culver City – works more in the comprehensive remodel and renovation side of the business when it comes to serving clients interested in enhancing fire safety. Currently, SPF:a has two active projects of this sort in Pacific Palisades and Bel Air.
“Where the opportunities are greatest for retrofitting and making more fire-resistant homes is, of course, the older stuff,” Pali said. “The homes that are newer with more modern construction already are doing a lot of these things just by the nature of the code.”
Many of the methods used by GER3 are replicated in this work though Pali also described adding sprinkler systems, filling cavities in the home with fire-repellent foam, eliminating overhangs in roofs and replacing flammable materials.
As far as pricing goes, the Bel Air renovation will range between $400 and $600 per square foot. However, it’s important to note, SPF:a is also doing non-fire safety related upgrades for this project including remodeling all the home’s interior finishes.
In addition to the personal benefits and advantages to the overall neighborhood, Pali said retrofitting is also a way to increase the value of a home as an asset.
Ignacio Rodriguez, chief executive and principal architect at IR Architects, said he hasn’t seen a strong client demand in retrofitting services. However, he expects this will soon change, drawing a parallel to the Northridge Earthquake.
“Once insurance starts to re-up people’s policies, I have a feeling (retrofitting) is going to become a big point of discussion, similar to when everybody had to retrofit their homes for earthquakes after (Northridge),” Rodriguez said.
To get ahead of the curve, Rodriguez is retrofitting his own home right now, which was first built in 2008 in fire-prone Granada Hills. He’s replacing the roof, installing outdoor sprinklers on the roof, upgrading the windows, adding shutters and redoing the attic’s ventilation system, among other things. Still in the earlier stages, Rodriguez did not have an exact cost, but said all in all, it could be close to $100,000.
Hawks too drew a connection between retrofitting and insurance, pointing to the Safer from Wildfires program which was created by California’s Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and the state’s emergency response and readiness agencies. This “ensures homeowners benefit from meaningful insurance savings when they take proactive safety steps,” the California Department of Insurance stated.
“Insurance companies… want to write insurance in areas where homeowners have reduced their risk,” Hawks said. “So, if they’re looking at a neighborhood to write insurance in, they’re going to look for the homes that have taken the right mitigation measures.”
staff-author
Source link