Lessons From Two Surviving LA Fire Homes

In this episode of The Build Show, we confront the devastating reality of the LA wildfires, where over 12,000 homes were lost, but two stood strong. What set these homes apart? Join us as we uncover the critical design and building practices that enabled their survival. Explore defensible space strategies, fire-resistant materials, ventilation retrofits, and innovative techniques like wildfire defense mesh and Class A-rated roofing. We also take a moment to honor the bravery and dedication of the men and women on the front lines, tirelessly fighting to protect lives and communities.

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[BernardJohnathan]

Imagine this, You’ve spent years building up your financial security, then one event a fire, a natural disaster, a market crash strips it all away in a matter of hours. That’s what’s happening right now in LA with the fire disaster. People who thought they were secure are now facing total financial devastation. Without the right strategy in place, everything you’ve worked for can disappear in the blink of an eye.

[ggofkjy]

I am a welder and I built a perimeter fence for a client just before the Woolsey fire ....I made it out of perforated steel for privacy and also fire fire department came and inspected after the fire and told the homeowner that the fence saved their home the client evaluated he confided in me he looked back a last time thinking his home was going to burn down because the neighbor had massive pine trees and needles as fuel foot deep in pine needles fuled that fire fence held the fire at bay ....fence created an effective fire break and served as a radiator to decapitate the extreme heat on the fence

[CarlosRodriguez-kbjc]

I’m from Puerto Rico. Our houses are built out of cement so they can withstand the hurricanes. On a recent hurricane, I had 3 palm trees land on my house. All that I heard was a thump. Our houses don’t burn, only the contents. My uncle had a fire at home. They put out the fire, cleaned the room, painted the walls, and continued life as usual.

[bilinasmini]

It's nice to have someone offering answers rather than criticism, so thank you, Matt.

[michellesimpsons]

Imagine driving through your neighborhood and passing all your neighbors burned down houses to yours that is still standing. A victory and a tragedy at the same time.

[ChristianPareATLAS]

21:30 1 very important point you missed is the location of the gas meter located in the fence away from the house and the gas line is underground not exposed to heat in case of a fire. That house is very well built

[mikestewart]

Hi there. First time on your channel but born and raised in southern California. Since 2008 I’ve been doing all kinds of swimming pool work. Maintenance and construction and plumbing etc. any time I do any pump and plumbing work I always always always put in a spot for a spot for a garden hose AND a spot for a 2” trash pump hose for this reason. Customers always ask me why and I say, “better to be safe than sorry. Protect your property. You have 20k+ gallons sitting right here. Make it work for you” and I was taught this by two old timers. It’s crazy that with all the pools we have, not a lot have any type of spigot at all. I’m sad for my town. But we learn and grow strong

[MidnightSonnet]

I'm gonna spread this video around my community. I'm in LA. My mother's house was nearly caught in the path of the Eaton fire. She got super lucky. She's been "planning" on rebuilding her home for decades. I'm kinda glad she never got too much done, because I think these important points you've mentioned are gonna be a must when she starts.

Thank you for understanding our situation. It's been a very rough couple of weeks, especially those who lost everything, including lives.

[TheVagolfer]

I've been a builder for 40 years in Virginia and I approve this video.

[CatherineSalvatore-sy]

As an insulation company, we thank you for the great information. We will share your video to make people more aware of how susceptible their homes are and how to fix these issues.

[Sonali-rz]

I live in LA. Thank you for making this video and for not bringing politics into it. I wish people would wait until an independent investigation is done before making assumptions about what happened.

[DirkOberheim]

I am a German and living decades in a America.

My entire Germany living professional family history consists of graduate engineers, architects, including a construction company with over 100 years of experience.

What you are explaining, Mr. Risinger, is absolutely correct.

We in Europe, especially in Germany, Austria and France, have the highest rules in fire protection and building regulations, this is due to history because of many wars and firestorms after bombings.

Houses must be spaced at least 4 meters or 12 feet apart, with one Level Houses, more levels more distance.

Fire protection zones around the house made of walls or fire-resistant materials and fire-resistant outer walls of the houses made of stone or concrete, roofs must be made of at least fire-resistant materials, preferably metal roofs, tiled roofs or concrete roofs, but interior walls must also be fire-resistant....

There are also technical fire protection separation zones in town planning so that fires cannot spread over large areas.

Water systems for the fire hydrants are separate from the normal water supply system for the population.

In Los Angeles the authorities did pretty much everything wrong.

I spoke to those responsible behind closed doors.

Los Angeles has 2 water reservoirs, but they have been calling for repairs for years because they are defective.

And then there is only 1 reservoir.

The water supply has not really grown with the city.

In fact, 7 water reservoirs are needed.

But politicians have been rejecting this for decades.

Then there was a water shortage because the reservoir was empty because a lot of water was needed. How did this

Terrible but simply the result of political mistakes.

The reservoirs are supplied with water via pumps from rivers and soil, but one of the rivers was diverted for green reasons and flows unused into the Pacific because a rare species of fish is to be re-established in this river.

The result was that the tanks could not be refilled quickly enough.

Another reason in the city planning was that new fire protection corridors were rejected and existing ones were released for building land.

The result was that the fire was no longer controllable, particularly because of the winds and firestorms caused by the fires.

This meant that the fire was able to spread unhindered and reduce entire districts to ashes.

The government failed where only one could fail, and it shows what happens when there is a mega-earthquake in the Los Angeles area.

Hundreds of thousands will die and millions will lose their possessions.

Because if a government in a fire and earthquake area cuts millions of dollars from protective facilities such as firefighters, ambulances and critical protective infrastructure, it should not be surprised if a disaster occurs, and for the potential victim it makes no difference which government is in power, whether Republican or Democrat.

Fires must be nipped in the bud.

[kateblood]

South eastern Australia has lots of information about building in high risk bushfire zones. Our house survived a bushfire in February 2024. We had been preparing our timber house for bushfire for over 20 years. Defendable space, roof sprinkler system, independent water supply, fuel pump so we were not reliant on electricity, and metal-meshing all gaps. Well maintained garden and surrounds all help. Careful garden plant selection and placement. We were there to defend with support of fire fighters.

[dangavel]

South Australian here, in firestorms such as these, which are just about indefensible, you need metal shutters, gutter guards to hinder ember ingress, water in gutters, metal roof, pebble dash or non flammable render on walls, metal windows, water tanks, sprinkler systems to wet the building, generator to power water pumps and about 20 feet without sizable vegetation near the home.Or you can build into a hillside ( not facing in the direction of prevailing winds ) and just have one wall open to the elements and then, use heavy duty shutters to cover the windows. None of this comes cheap but the movie stars could easily have built to this standard.

Bushfires are weird, one house can be totally burnt out and one next door can survive and there seems no reason why, but a major issue is embers penetrating into the roof space. Tom Hanks house has vegetation very near the house, if any of that vegetation had gone up, its unlikely it would have survived, he had no shutters to prevent ingress through the windows .

[InTeCredo]

I never forget the sight of a lone house that was untouched by the firestorm that devastated many houses during the Oakland Hill fire in 1994. The owner had "fireproofed" his house and offered all of the information for free so others could benefit. However, those fireproofing features and techniques weren't even included in the building codes ever since.

[cf]

Thank you so much for this video. Our home is just 3 miles WSW of the huge Eaton fire in LA. We were evacuated, but thank God our fabulous firefighters kept it from spreading through our area. I can’t say enough about how wonderful the LA firefighters and the firefighters who came in from Canada, Mexico, Texas, Colorado, etc. are and how HARD they worked and are still working on these fires. Your video is so HELPFUL. We are lucky that our house has a tile roof and is brick and stucco. But there’s still room for improvement. We are going to firescape our landscape, as well as look into all of many things you pointed out. I’m so grateful to you.❤

[jonangel]

Having lived in central California & experienced fires, a very freighting unpredictable force." I live and build in Fla for the last 40 years & Hurricane Andrew changed everything about construction. Reinforced Block, Less pitched roofs, Hiped designs, metal & tile, impact resistant windows &doors, the point being"you have to make changes in designs &codes in order for a better tomorrow."

[Jersey]

That architect deserves an award for his design great work!

[vanhohman]

Thank you, Matt. I’m an architect and have lived in Southern California for 62 years. I spent my teen years in Pacific Palisades so I’ll speak about that fire. I’m in no way saying it’s more important than Altadena. I am heartbroken that the small town of my youth is gone. Literally gone. Some added information about the winds for you. Firstly, Santa Ana winds are strong very dry winds that suck the moisture out of anything they touch. The second issue is called a mountain wave. In essence the strong winds striking a mountain at close to perpendicular race up the face like water up the back of a wave. It breaks over the top and rushes down the “face of the wave” creating strong gusts. Take 60mph Santa Ana winds and amplify them by the mountain wave and you have 100mph dry gusts. This is what hit the palisades. This is also why fire burned downhill. These measures you talk about will help greatly. But it is also luck of the draw. This was hard to watch but I truly appreciate your thoughtfulness.

[idee]

Thank you. We've read such divisive comments from residents from other states, attacking California. Your video done with compassion feels like there's hope still for one United States.