In 2018, the towns of Paradise and Concow, California, experienced the state’s deadliest and most destructive wildfire to date. The Camp Fire was blamed for at least 85 deaths, the loss of 18,000 structures and damages estimated at $15 million. Both towns were largely destroyed.

As town officials surveyed the damage and looked toward the future, they found one factor correlated with homes that survived the fire: newer building codes. Homes built after the implementation of modern fire-mitigation codes fared much better than those built prior to those changes. Of the 350 homes in the former category, 51% survived, according to a 2019 analysis of fire and property records by McClatchy journalists. Of the 12,100 homes built prior to the new codes, only 18% were left standing.

The case for fire-resistant building codes is strong, and as climate change drives increasingly intense, frequent wildfires — especially in the western United States — more communities are considering them. But such codes can be unpopular with homeowners and developers alike, leaving city managers in a tough spot.

Fire-resistant building codes address not just the materials and methods of construction but surrounding “defense zones” as well. For instance, California’s fire-safe building code, known as Chapter 7A, covers roofing materials, windows, eaves, vents, decks and more. It also requires defensible space in the 100 feet surrounding a home as a buffer between a building and grass, trees, shrubs and other landscaping. When combined with home hardening, these tactics greatly increase the odds of a structure surviving a wildfire.

Like California, Colorado has experienced some of its most devastating wildfires over the past few years. The 2021 Marshall Fire near Boulder burned over 1,000 homes, for example.

That event served as something of an impetus for the Colorado state legislature to pass a law in May that will establish wildfire-resistant building codes. “We listened to the fire professionals and other experts in crafting the legislation because they know more than anyone what such codes should look like,” said Sen. Lisa Cutter, an author of the bill. She added that “we are sensitive to the costs of implementing such codes and will be flexible in terms of how communities roll them out.”

Read the full article about fire-resistant building codes by Amanda Loudin at Smart Cities Dive.