Escondido home development says it is ‘fire resistant.’ Houses cost $1M

There’s no such thing as a fireproof house, yet, but that hasn’t stopped one builder from trying.

Los Angeles-based KB Home unveiled its Dixon Trail development in Escondido this week that it calls “wildfire resistant.” It comes with 10-foot buffers between homes, flame-resistant vents, noncombustible gutters and fake window shutters made of concrete.

Dixon Trail is in a rural, fire-prone area, roughly five miles from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The 64 single-family homes range from $1 million to $1.2 million.

“Nothing is ever fireproof, but we can narrow the path of destruction,” said Roy Wright, CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, or IBHS.

KB Home worked with IBHS, a 45-year-old South Carolina-based nonprofit, to create the first neighborhood to have the certification of Wildfire Prepared Home Plus, which says it is most prepared in case of a fire. The organization has given certifications for individual houses before but never for an entire community. It also offers guidance for homes across the nation in high wind, hail and rain areas.

Dixon Trail is located in an area deemed a “very high” fire hazard, according to new maps released by Cal Fire this week. To be fair, a lot of San Diego County is considered to have very high fire danger, from Chula Vista to San Marcos.

Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home Coastal, said it had already started preparing the site for construction when he found out about the institute. He then put into motion a plan to make sure the new community would meet its standards.

IBHS standards applied to Dixon Trail include Class A fire-rated roofs (asphalt fiberglass composition shingles and other elements), noncombustible gutters and downspouts, tempered-glass windows, flame- and ember-resistant vents, metal fences, a more than 5 foot noncombustible zone surrounding the home, spaced out vegetation and a host of fire-resistant materials throughout the home.

Ruffner said KB Home is learning as they go and don’t claim to be experts yet. However, he said they plan on sharing what they learn with California building groups with the hope that the whole industry will continue to adapt. KB Home is San Diego County’s second-largest homebuilder, behind Lennar.

Dixon Trail is in the unique position of opening after the historic January fires in Los Angeles County. It might be ahead of the curve with new legislation. California already requires new homes in fire-prone areas to use fire-resistant materials, but several lawmakers have suggested the rules need to be expanded. For instance, much of Altadena — caught up in the Eaton fire that resulted in 17 deaths — is outside the required zone for fire-resistant materials, according to an analysis by NPR.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an order in February to increase regulations to require homeowners in high-risk areas to clear combustible materials around homes. In addition to Dixon Trail’s fire-resistant materials, KB Home said there will be rules for owners, such as routinely clearing debris from roofs and gutters.

Of course, not all San Diegans can afford a $1 million single-family home in Dixon Trail. Wright, of the IBHS, said their plans can be easily adapted to denser townhouse projects, which are naturally less expensive in most areas of the county.

Also, he said Dixon Trail is an example of the type of community someone wants to live next to because it would slow down the path of a blaze. (The updated Cal Fire maps show a lot of homes in bright red hazard severity zones. )

Dixon Trail’s prices aren’t far off from what local home shoppers are facing for homes that are decades old. In February, the median single-family home price in San Diego County was $1.1 million, according to Redfin. The Escondido homes are much larger than the majority of resale homes, ranging from 2,058 square feet to 3,031 square feet.

Construction won’t be completed at Dixon Trail for a year. Still, that hasn’t stopped a third of all homes being sold, Ruffner said. He said almost all buyers are locals, especially older San Diegans who want to live in a single-story structure.

The 36.5-acre area where the new community is located, which includes about 11 acres of open space, used to be farm land. As part of the sale, KB Home agreed to name streets after several of the farming families that occupied the space. It is next to several open space areas, including the Bottle Peak County Preserve and Daley Ranch Park.

In addition to protecting homes in case of a fire, the institute emphasized that the homes will be more insurable at a time when insurance companies have pulled out of the state.