Roughly 9,000 single family homes were destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires. The process to rebuild has just begun, but when ground is finally broken, they won't all be made out of wood, with a hammer and nails.
Ryan Palos and his family survived the Tick Fire but their home was lost. They never wanted that to happen again.
"Just think outside the box, just not the traditional way we're used to building because who knows? It could happen again," Ryan said.
That led to them rebuilding in 2021 using what's called ICF, Insulation Concrete Forms. Their home is designed and permitted as non-combustible and built using only foam, concrete and rebar.
There isn't much that would identify it as nontraditional, but by eliminating wood from the structure, they also reduced their risk of fire.
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Evangeline Iglesias is facing the same choices in Altadena. She lost her home of 25 years to the Eaton Fire.
Iglesias hasn't even been able to clear the debris from her property in Altadena but has decided on her path forward. She's going to print her home.
"You want to build as fast as possible, so you're going to build whatever it is that builds as fast as possible, and I think 3-D printing was it," Iglesias explained.
Evangeline will use Emergent Construction to build her home. Emergent has printed several homes in Redding and even one on the campus of Woodbury University in Burbank and will only require 30 hours to print the walls, which can save up to two months on construction time while offering incredible flexibility.
"All those other building techniques, generally speaking, create a structure that's straight, square and plumb. The beauty in my opinion of concrete 3D printing is that we can do these beautifully curvy, organic shapes...we can do that with conventional construction but it is enormously expensive," says Don Ajamian, the CEO of Emergent Construction and former resident of Altadena.
Emergent is under contract to print three homes in Altadena with dozens more under consideration. Ajamian says the builds in Altadena are expected to be as simple as any other permitted structure.
"We've proven it out. We've gotten it approved through the California building code. We've got people living in these homes. We've gotten certificates of occupancy so we know it's viable," he said.
A home made with concrete is clearly fire resistant, but in Paradise where the Camp Fire destroyed 90% of the town's homes, a house made with hay is also groundbreaking in its ability to resist fire. The hay serves as insulation with plaster applied directly to the bails both inside the home and out. When finished it will look like any other, but it will not burn easily.
"There's no oxygen in the walls once the plaster goes around the bales and it doesn't burn. There's nothing in there to burn," says homeowner and builder Eric Brzescinski.
While hay might be the oldest new way to build, back in Altadena, Dr. Bruce Lander's home, made of steel, likely saved some of his neighbors because it served as a fire break. The fire burned everything in its path until it reached Lander's home with exterior walls of steel and doors with double sided steel panels. On one side of his home, there are fire victims. On the other side? Survivors.
"My feeling and probably the others feel the same way... houses built with other materials, especially steel and other materials are comparatively inert to fire and should be interspersed with houses that are built of wood," says Landers.
Uncommon materials with a common theme - which is to avoid fire and keep an open mind, says Iglesias.
"I'm starting fresh so it's gonna be OK. I think it's good," she said.