A homebuilding company is developing Dixon Trail, a first-of-its-kind "fire-proof" community in California.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the 64 houses in KB Home's Dixon Trail community in Escondido, San Diego County, will adhere to the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety's stringent "Wildfire Prepared Home" standards.
IBHS, an independent nonprofit research organization, estimated that 4.8 million U.S. homes are at high or extreme risk of wildfires. Losses will likely exceed $5 billion over the past 10 years. Around 2 million of those homes are in the Golden State, where many insurers have stopped writing policies for residents in high-risk areas.
As a result, many have had to put off dreams of homeownership. Meanwhile, homeowners are vulnerable to financial ruin from increasingly frequent wildfires.
A warming climate has made California more susceptible to severe droughts and "weather whiplash," as the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment explained.
As part of its efforts to mitigate the crisis, California introduced "Safer from Wildfires" and other protections requiring insurance discounts for qualified wildfire-resistant homes.
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Each home will incorporate "research-backed mitigation actions" that fall under the Safer from Wildfires initiative. Actions include a five-foot noncombustible buffer, Class A fire-rated roof, noncombustible gutters, ember- and flame-resistant vents, and upgraded windows.
"We are proud that our new Dixon Trail community, with its system of mitigation features, is the first in the nation to meet IBHS's wildfire resilience standards at the homesite level and at the neighborhood level," Jeffrey Mezger, chairman and CEO of KB Home, told the L.A. Times.
"With fire becoming an increasingly common threat in the West, it's crucial to reconsider how we construct communities in fire-prone regions," IBHS CEO Roy Wright added. "KB Home is at the forefront, implementing our research-driven wildfire mitigation strategies for both the parcel and neighborhood levels at Dixon Trail."
KB Home lists several move-in-ready homes at Dixon Trail. Four of the pre-planned homesites remain on the market at the time of writing.
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