In 1977, our office burned to the ground in the Sycamore Canyon fire in Santa Barbara. At the time, it was my father's firm, but I remember the devastation well. With an office in Santa Barbara since 1976, we have sadly had to re-build so many homes destroyed by fires for clients. Many of those clients have asked us to design their new home in a fire-resistant manner.

There are many precautions one can take to make your home as fire-resistant as possible. Here are the ways to design your house to protect it against wildfire. In general, concrete is an excellent material to work with when constructing a fire-resistant home. It’s non-combustible, it takes a long time for heat from a fire to damage its structure and load-bearing ability, and it stops fire from spreading. A concrete and steel structure with no wood is ideal along with roofing, siding, and windows that are fire-resistant as well.

House Location on Property

Wildfires typically blaze through faster on an uphill incline compared to ground level, so consider this in selecting your house location on your property. Maximize the distance between your home and trees and bushes using a driveway, patio, low-growing fire-retardant plants, and fire-resistant materials as multiple layers of defense to buy you time as a wildfire approaches. Your driveway should be wide enough for firefighters to park, move, and reverse their fire truck, while still being able to haul their equipment up to your home. Strategically place exterior lights on your roof so your home is clearly visible and easy to find for firefighters.

Foundation

Use insulated concrete forms (ICFs). ICFs are polystyrene blocks that connect together like pieces of Lego to create your home’s shell, locking out sound and weather. They’re made up of concrete, making them one of the most fire- and heat-resistant construction materials. ICFs can withstand fire for a maximum of four hours. They’ve conventionally been used in the construction of commercial and institutional buildings but homebuilders can use ICFs too. ICFs cost about 1 to 4 percent more than typical wood frame houses without built-in fire protection. However, this extra cost is worth the investment, as ICFs lock in heat and cooled air, which can escape through the walls, thus saving energy. ICF’s also create shear walls that extend throughout the structure, making them more resistant to earthquakes.

Roof

While Southern California architecture leans towards stylish Spanish tile roofs, the style is notorious for cracks and openings that allow embers to sneak into and start burning the wood underneath. You can construct a fire-resistant roof using Class A, fire-rated materials that interlock tightly with metal, concrete, slate, and tiling, and built over top a fire-resistant cap sheet for extra protection. A steeper roof pitch is better than a flat one because embers roll off your home before they can burn through. Small flying embers carried by wind are usually the culprit behind 90 percent of fires spreading. Embers can fly for miles, ending up in gutters and smoldering for hours before starting a secondary fire. For increased safety, choose metal gutters over vinyl, which could melt and drop fire onto the sides of your home. Always keep your gutters clean. Dead leaves are tinder waiting to ignite.

Siding

There are many fire-resistant options for siding such as concrete, stucco, stone, brick, interlocking tiles, fiber cement, or metal for siding. Steer clear of untreated wood shingles or planks, though, which are the least fire-resistant. Vinyl siding might be fine as long as flames can’t find gaps or crevices under the vinyl. Pay special attention to the underside of overhangs and underneath your balcony, deck, and any other underfloor area. These are areas of your home where flames will be trapped and where the hottest temperatures will be in the midst of a blaze. It’s crucial to focus on the structural integrity of these parts of your home with extra layers of protection, such as adding a perimeter of crushed stone or a firewall.

Windows

Windows are the weakest link in your house, as they offer fire an opening into your home. Extreme heat alone is enough to shatter glass or trigger combustibles inside your home without the blaze even entering your house. Choose insulated double glazing with tempered glass for all windows. Single glazed windows will crack from the blaze and expose the home to the fire. Double glazed windows will take twice as long to break, with the outer layer breaking first; tempered glass is heat-treated making it about four times stronger. You can also consider fire safety glass, which holds together even when it’s cracked by heat. When it comes to size, smaller windows are preferable to larger ones. For window frames, steel framing is the most flame-resistant option, followed by aluminum, with vinyl as the least resistant. Acrylic skylights are susceptible to melting, leaving a hole in the roof, so are to be avoided. The safest option is to install roll-down metal fire doors from your roof overhang or along the side recesses that can be automatically released and secured with a latch. They’ll protect all windows and doors and act as an important extra layer of defense protecting your home.

Doors

Doors act as another access point into your home for wildfires. Wood doors provide only about 20 minutes of fire protection. Instead, doors with a metal core (and covered in any material you’d like) or fiber-cement will stave off a fire for much longer. Garage doors are a key access point too. Metal panel doors are your best approach, but you’ll need to make sure these doors are very tightly fitted to prevent embers from sliding under.

Decks, Fencing & Landscaping

Wood decks have a reputation for fueling wildfires and bringing them right to your home’s doorstep. Either use composites, which will spread fire less quickly, or make sure the wood is treated with fire-resistant coating. Instead of a typical wood deck, use concrete materials instead if possible. Protect the underside of your deck with metal screening to keep the fire out. The same goes for wood fencing. They can act as an incendiary, so it’s wiser to create a fire-resistant barrier using stones or other masonry construction. Keep dead and highly flammable vegetation under control. Keep plants at least five feet away from your house instead of hugging the home’s exterior. Homes lined in mulch fare much worse compared to homes lined with rocks.

Sprinklers & Power

Install sprinklers on the roof, patio or deck that turn on automatically to help stave off a fire. You can program the sprinklers so that once the firestorm has passed, the sprinkler systems can move on to putting out remaining spot fires along the roof and other exterior surfaces. It’s an expensive approach, but you can have a roof that is actually a shallow pool of water. A swimming pool near the house can also be connected to a sprinkler system. Prepare for the worst and assume that your home will lose electricity and water pressure. You’ll need a portable generator that will automatically kick in during an emergency.

House Style

You may be wondering if you have to have a contemporary style home to have a fire-resistant home. It is true that a fire-resistant home lends itself best to a contemporary style. However, you can create a modified version of other styles. Below is just one example of a traditional style home with fire-resistant materials.

A Good Investment

Although building a home with fire-resistant materials does cost more, the additional costs can be offset by more affordable materials for other parts of the home. In 2024, a traditionally-built ground-up custom home ranges between $800 to $1,400 per square foot in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. A fire-resistant home can range from $1,000 to $2,200 per square foot depending on the level of fire resistance and preferred style. Keep in mind that fire-resistant materials are typically more long-lasting and sustainable, and require less maintenance and replacement throughout the years. Plus the added peace of mind is priceless.