Imperfect Paradise: Is it possible to build a fire-proof house?

California Love

LAist Studios

Music

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Some of the most striking images to come out of the Los Angeles wildfires are photos of a single intact house, surrounded by rubble. We wondered: why do some houses burn down and not others? Is it possible to build a fire-proof house? Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido, correspondent Emily Guerin, and host of the LAist Studios podcast The Big Burn Jacob Margolis, look at what preventative measures you can take to try to save your house in a wildfire. Plus, we meet a man who tried to build a fire-proof house and a woman who lost everything, yet chose to rebuild in exactly the same place.

To see photos of the bunker home in Topanga Canyon: https://www.instagram.com/p/CkueCwIrHta/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Eaton Fire Ring Cam footage: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEydaaLvfra/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=9c2269c5-a77d-42d6-8333-3c4ad540ccd0

Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety homes on fire video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQIHtMQ_y5k&ab_channel=InsuranceInstituteforBusiness%26HomeSafety%28IBHS%29

Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise

Learn more about the rich traditions and vibrant voices of Native California at https://NewsFromNativeCalifornia.com

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

Transcript

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0:00.0	For ongoing coverage of the Southern California Wildfires, download the new LASD mobile app so you can listen wherever you are.
0:07.0	You can also stream us on LAS.com or listen live on LAS 89.3.
0:11.7	LAS will be there with you every step of the way.
0:15.2	Hi, this is Larry Mantle. Our 23rd Annual Film Week Academy Awards preview is back on Saturday, February 22nd at the
0:23.6	Alex Theater in Glendale. Get your tickets now, at Laus.com slash events.
0:30.6	Hey, this is in Perfect Paradise. I'm Antonio Serejito.
0:37.0	The big twin fires in L.A. County that broke out the first week of January, the Palisades and the
0:43.5	Eden fires are almost fully contained.
0:47.0	But the fear around wildfires here in Southern California persists.
0:52.3	New fires have broken out.
0:54.0	As of this recording on Thursday, January 23rd,
0:56.9	they have not burned into highly populated areas. What I find myself thinking about is how these
1:03.7	fires, the Eden fire especially, burned into places that we did not expect. Downtown Altadena
1:10.5	was destroyed, even though it's not up in the hills and is not considered
1:15.1	a high-risk fire area.
1:17.5	It made me wonder, is anywhere really safe?
1:21.3	Can you build a house that's fireproof?
1:26.9	A few years ago, we put out a podcast called The Big Burn about why and how wildfires have become such a huge problem in California.
1:36.7	We dropped one episode into Imperfect Paradise last week.
1:40.6	But there's another that tackles this question of how exactly houses burn down and what you can do to try to keep your house safe.
1:50.0	And so this week, we're bringing you that episode, posted by science reporter Jacob Margolis.
1:56.6	I'm going to guess want to know, like, how could this place be allowed to be rebuilt in a way that still leaves it vulnerable to fire after what happened, after it was essentially nuked off the landscape?
	...

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