In the two years since the Bilbrey family moved to Dulzura, fires have come uncomfortably close twice.
A few months after they’d settled in, the Border 32 fire ignited near Barrett Junction and charred more than 4,000 acres — at one point shutting down state Route 94 and forcing the family to stay with friends overnight. Then last summer, fire burned on a mountain in Tecate, near enough they could see it from their front door.
So when Chris Bilbrey spotted an electronic message sign promoting a grant that could help Dulzura homeowners protect their properties from fire, he jotted down the web address.
Bilbrey, a counselor at Santana High, figured it couldn’t hurt to apply for the grant. “Worst case is I don’t get anything,” he said. “Best case is they come out and do some work.”
Turns out it was the best case. Bilbrey’s application was approved — and the family’s home became the first in San Digeo County retrofitted to be more wildland fire resilient.
Battalion Chief Cal Hendrie explains how the base of the home was rebuilt with fiber cement boarding and the crawl space vents upgraded with ember-resistant vents. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The work was done as part of the California Wildfire Mitigation Program, a $117 million pilot launched in several California counties. The program, funded by state and federal funds, seeks to assist underserved populations in wildfire-prone areas. In San Diego County, the program is focused on Dulzura, Potrero and Campo.
After a county fire battalion chief toured Bilbrey’s home and outlined the scope of work, contractors were hired to complete the improvements, which cost about $110,000 — nearly triple the amount the state initially intended to spend per home.
Part of the money paid for a California Conservation Corps crew to create a 100-foot buffer of defensive space, removing and trimming trees and overgrown brush on the 3.25-acre lot, and installing a ring of river rock as hardscape around the home. The rest of the funds went to the contractor for labor and materials for home “hardening” upgrades.
The work cost Bilbrey nothing. Program manager Akilah Cunningham said some homeowners could be asked to pay up to 25 percent of the cost, depending on family income.
The county has around $24 million of funding to spend over the next three years. Around 50 homeowners have applied for the program so far.
At the Dulzura home, the contractor completed a list of items that transformed the manufactured house into a fire fortress. The program requires the bottom 2 feet of homes to feature non-combustible material, so wood was switched out with fiber cement boards. Workers changed out composite wood underneath a window that was “so combustible it wasn’t funny,” said San Diego County Fire Battalion Chief Cal Hendrie.
They rebuilt two wood decks in front of the home using pressure-treated lumber — wood treated with chemicals to make it less likely to catch fire. Gone were open spaces underneath the decks where leaves could accumulate and embers could ignite. They now sit on river rocks and are fitted with mesh screens to block embers.
The goal all around the house is to block paths that any flames or embers might find into the structure.
Workers replaced vents on the roof and around the foundation with ember-resistant ones and changed out vinyl window screens with aluminum ones. They put locking hinges on a fire-resistant door made of concrete board for the home’s crawl space and built a similar secured door to cover the fuse box — ensuring neither would blow open in a fire.
The final step? After all the work was done, fire-resistant foam was used to fill cracks and gaps so embers couldn’t get in. Once it dries, the caulk can be trimmed and painted to match the house. “I never would have thought about that kind of stuff,” Bilbrey said.
A fire-resistant caulk was used to plug holes and gaps. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
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