With peak fire season underway, the threat to homes is ever-present, especially in high fire danger zones.
The builders of one development in Escondido are seeking to change that. Dixon Trail is the first community to be rated "Wildfire Prepared Plus" by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), a research group backed by the insurance industry.
Kevin Walton didn't know that when he moved into his newly built Dixon Trail home three months ago.
"We only learned that after the fact," he said. Walton moved from the Bay Area to be close to his daughter and first grandchild. He called the designation a bonus.
“For a brand new house, that’s perfect," Walton said. "Because we would have wanted to add at least some of those elements, like the indoor sprinkler system, but we didn’t have to. It’s built in."
There's also another bonus, especially in a high fire danger zone, said Steve Ruffner, who oversees development projects for KB Homes, builder of Dixon Trail.
“It's going to help the customers guarantee that they can get insurance from an insurance provider in this state,” he said.
The recent fires across California have cost the insurance industry billions, and homeowners are having difficulty getting coverage.
So, what makes the 64-home Dixon Trail community fire resilient?
“We are building class-A fire rated roofs," Ruffner said. "On top of that, the underlayment is fire-rated. On top of that, all of the venting material, including the screening material on our gutters, etc., are an eighth inch, so it will not allow an ember to get into the attic during a wind blown event and cause a fire.”
In addition, the roofs are fire-rated, the vents and gutter screens are made from metal to prevent embers from catching the roof on fire. The eaves are stuccoed, the doors and fences are made of metal, and the windows are double-paned and heat-resistant. There is also a five-foot perimeter around the home where no landscaping is allowed.
Previously, the IBHS only gave "wildfire prepared" designations to individual homes, not an entire community. In a demonstration, homes not built to IBHS' standards burned within 40 minutes.
These homes are selling for a little over $1 million, roughly the median price for a new home in San Diego County. There are other communities in Escondido where new homes are being sold for significantly more.
According to Zillow, the median price for an existing home in Escondido is nearly $860,000.
