Santa Clarita family turns to fireproofing technique after losing home in 2019 Tick Fire
By Phillip Palmer
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SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (KABC) — For families impacted by wildfires, the idea of rebuilding their home can be daunting. Not only is there confusion about how to start, but there’s the natural fear that another fire could burn down their home again.
Ryan and Ann Palos know what it’s like to recover from a wildfire.
Their home in Santa Clarita was destroyed by the Tick Fire in 2019, and the recent firestorm across Southern California brought back horrible memories.
Ryan said he still remembers his daughters’ voices telling him to leave their home when the fire broke out, but he wanted to make sure his neighbors made it out safely.
“You just remember the moments before you leave and the moments when you realize you don’t have anything left,” Ann said.
We met the Palos family in 2021 as they began to rebuild using what’s called ICF, or Insulating Concrete Forms – a home designed and permitted as non-combustible and built using only foam, concrete and rebar.
Ryan said their home now has so much flexibility.
“Since there’s no load-bearing walls here in the house, we can reconfigure the rooms in the future, whichever way we want to,” he added.
Their home is not made with any wood. Even the roof is non-combustible material.
“It’s so hard to get wood out of residential construction and it’s mainly the roof sheathing – the plywood sheathing in the roof. That’s the toughest part and that’s what our patent-pending longspan system does, is it eliminates the need for sheathing,” Fisher said.
In spite of the reduced fire risk to the home, it was still a challenge to get fire insurance.
The family was rejected by several companies, but eventually, executives from Mercury Insurance visited the home and not only offered coverage, but at a lower rate than prior to the fire.
“When they toured it, they kind of had a surprised look… ‘Oh, it’s like a traditional house’,” said Ryan. “You wouldn’t know this type of construction was possible but when they saw it, it opened their eyes.”
Mercury now has an alliance with PHNX Development to make homes in high fire-risk areas insurable, and said in a statement:
“We want to continue to grow our homeowners book in California, but we also want to help the industry rethink the way we approach catastrophe-prone areas so we can all insure more homes,” said President and Chief Operating Officer Victor Joseph.
“I think, for me, it’s just peace of mind. Wanting to make sure that our family is in a safer position should something come back next time,” Ann said.
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