Live in a California wildfire zone? Gavin Newsom budget has money for home retrofits

Jan. 10--It was just about the sole piece of good news to emerge from the November 2018 Camp Fire: Homes built to a higher standard were a lot more likely to survive the deadly wildfire.

Now, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to do something about that.

The budget plan he outlined Friday would include a $100 million "home hardening pilot program" to help Californians retrofit older homes against wildfire risk. The program would be financed with $25 million from the general fund and $75 million in "federal hazard mitigation funding."

A year ago Newsom left out any funding for home hardening even after he publicly praised a McClatchy investigation that showed the striking difference between homes built in the Camp Fire burn zone before 2008 -- when a strict wildfire building code took effect -- and those built more recently. The building code calls for fire-resistant roofs, siding and other materials.

McClatchy's analysis of Cal Fire data showed that half of the 350 single-family homes built after 2008 came through the fire undamaged. Only 18 percent of the 12,100 older homes escaped damage. The figures didn't include mobile homes, which burned at nearly the same rate regardless of age.

The Camp Fire killed 85 people, more than any other in California history, and destroyed much of Paradise.

Experts say retrofitting homes is crucial to help California cope with wildfire risks. Barely 6 percent of the state's housing stock has been built since the building codes took effect.

The $100 million is a far cry from the $1 billion initially contemplated by Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, a dentist who helped identify wildfire victims in Paradise in 2018 and the wine country in 2017. Wood last year authored AB 38, which would have established a $1 billion loan fund for home hardening.

"It's very personal," Wood said last fall. "I've identified between 40 and 50 fire victims in the past four years,and I'm really tired of that."

The bill passed, but without any state money; instead it directed state agencies to seek federal funding. Legislative staffers said Wood's loan fund proposal hadn't gone through the necessary budget process, and Wood said last fall he was hopeful that eventually some money would be appropriated.

With $100 million now on the table, "I'm happy with the direction it's going," Wood said Friday.

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