Californians from San Diego to Eureka have watched in disbelief as parts of urban, suburban and small-town communities have been engulfed by wildfires that leave death, destruction and financial hardship in their wake.
As wildfires take an increasing toll on communities where millions of people live and work, fire safety experts are giving more attention to protecting residential areas—addressing not only landscaping and defensible-space issues but also the actual structures that are jeopardized by these events.
CSU faculty and students are making significant contributions to this critical effort. They are using their knowledge and skill to help “harden" homes and other buildings by constructing, designing or retrofitting them to make them more fire-resilient. Limiting the loss of life and property has been their highest priority, but they also seek to reduce the financial burden—not just of rebuilding but also of costly insurance to cover lost or fire-damaged property. In addition to supporting the community, this work is giving students hands-on learning opportunities in construction, architecture, engineering and concrete industry management that will prepare them to be the next generation of leaders in their fields.
Leaping into Action
At Chico State, many faculty, students and staff jumped into action following the 2018 Camp Fire that levelled the town of Paradise and caused horrific damage to neighboring communities: 85 people lost their lives, more than 50,000 people were displaced and 18,000 structures were destroyed.
Mohammed Albahttiti, a professor in Chico State's Department of Concrete Industry Management, witnessed the Camp Fire ravaging his community. “I saw the devastation all around me and wanted to find solutions that work," he recalled. He reached out to Butte County Habitat for Humanity to offer his department's expertise and support in building new homes in Paradise, advocating for the use of concrete for construction, as it is better able to withstand fire than wood. He favors in particular 'insulated concrete forms' (ICF), a less expensive form of concrete that functions akin to Legos, with individual 'logs' falling into place.
Though concrete has some drawbacks—it is more expensive than wood and initially produces carbon dioxide—its benefits speak for themselves: In addition to its increased fire resiliency, its initial negative environmental impact is substantially less than that caused by a wildfire, and it can provide better insulation and therefore reduce energy costs, improve indoor air quality and provide better soundproofing. Concrete also requires less frequent and less costly maintenance than wood.
Habitat for Humanity took Albahttiti up on his offer, and he and Patrick Brittle, professor with Chico State's Department of Construction Management, arranged for two student interns to work under their supervision to help build three homes in Paradise, using the recommended ICF technology. These homes, built with support from the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and many industry partners, have served as a model for the future. Albahttiti is now researching ways to reduce the cost of concrete construction and to lower insurance rates for home and property owners who utilize ICF and other concrete construction methods, such as 3D-printed concrete.
Chico State Professor Mohammed Albahttiti, right, working on a Concrete Industry Management Program community project. (Photo courtesy Chico State/Jason Halley)
Then-Chico State student Moises Mendoza participated in the Habitat for Humanity project to rebuild Paradise. (Photo courtesy Chico State/Jason Halley)
Rouben Mohiuddin, professor of Interior Architecture with Chico State's Art and History Department, also moved quickly in the aftermath of the Camp Fire. Referring to himself and his students as 'second responders,' he contacted the Rebuild Paradise Foundation to suggest an internship program where he and the students would volunteer to design houses for residents who had lost their homes and were uninsured or otherwise unable to rebuild without financial assistance.
Working in collaboration with many partners, they designed floor plans and structures that incorporated elements that would resist a future fire. “I kept wondering why one house would burn and the one right next to it was left standing," he said. “We made sure to include recommendations for fire resiliency in our plans."
In addition to the use of ICF, the design recommendations included using different venting systems than were used previously, so that embers would not enter the home and cause combustion; roof materials that are fire-resistant as opposed to wood shingles; and double-paned or tempered-glass windows. Embedded in their thinking was the hope that building a more fire-resilient home might make it easier to acquire insurance coverage that was not prohibitive.
Chico State Professor Rouben Mohiuddin works with his students on home designs for rebuilding Paradise after the 2018 Camp Fire.
The designs were approved by the Town of Paradise, streamlining the permitting process for residents. One of the designs, called
The Flumes, was included in the Rebuild Paradise Foundation's initial Floor Plan Library; residents could choose to use a design from this library at a significantly reduced cost.
“The students took ownership of this project and received service credits for their work—and more importantly got to see how much their designs impacted the individuals who had been so terribly affected by the fires," Mohiuddin said.
Different Methods, Same Goal
Faculty at other CSUs have taken different approaches to hardening homes but with the same goal in mind: limiting the impact of disastrous wildfires on residential environments. The thought of such encroachment prompted interest from Jeff Kane, a professor of fire ecology and fuels management at Cal Poly Humboldt. Kane has long specialized in wildland fire science, including through the university's
Wildland Fire Lab and the
Fire Resilience Institute. His work with students has expanded beyond research concerning wildfire landscapes to looking at how to harden homes potentially threatened by fire.
One promising technique he is exploring is the use of fire-resistant paint for both external and internal application. During a demonstration to determine the effectiveness of fire-resistant paint on mini-homes exposed to fire, Kane and graduate student Trevor Haltermann took thermal infrared images of the structures that used the new paint and those that used standard paint. The results were striking, particularly for the homes using the external paint: The mini-home with fire-resistant paint withstood the fire with very limited damage, while the structure with standard paint was completely destroyed.
Cal Poly Humboldt graduate student Trevor Haltermann prepares to capture thermal infrared images of mini-homes during the test involving several research partners.
Flame Security International professionals set fire to a mini-home with fire-resistant paint for the demonstration involving Cal Poly Humboldt's Fire Resilience Institute.
“A large group of us watched the demonstration and were really impressed," Kane said. “The difference between the structure receiving the fire-resistant paint and the one receiving the regular paint was incredible. It makes me think this one element could be extremely helpful in saving lives and people's homes."
At Cal State San Marcos, the
Wildfire Science and the Urban Interface degree program is training the next generation of fire professionals—from those who actually fight the fires to those who will help prevent and mitigate wildfires from a wide range of vantage points within the fire industry. Created by Wildfire Researcher Matthew Rahn, the program is the only one of its kind in California.
As part of this course of study, Rahn is looking at ways to reduce fire risk to homes and other buildings. Rather than concentrating on new-home building, he is identifying both common sense and innovative ways to retrofit existing homes to make them more fire-resistant.
“I think the concept of retrofitting homes is largely missing in the conversation," Rahn said. “While it's important to look at new construction, a great deal can be accomplished by updating existing structures to meet the strongest fire-resilient standards possible."
For instance, in Southern California, where many homes and apartment buildings have swimming pools, water from these pools could be used to extinguish fires when water is limited. Rahn points out that in the Los Angeles-area fires that erupted in January 2025, the fires' intensity often overpowered access to water from hydrants.
Wildfire Researcher Matt Rahn collects data in the field during a wildland-urban interface fire to study smoke levels, hazardous particles it’s emitting and potential occupational exposures for firefighters.
“Of course, most structures won't have a swimming pool attached," he says. “But using those that do can have an exponential impact."
Another idea is to have sprinklers installed on rooftops in addition to their placement inside homes. Also high on his list is adding non-combustible cement fiberboard to homes' exteriors.
Looking Deeper—Literally
Yet another approach is underway at Cal Poly Pomona. Professors Yasser Salem and Frank Yazdani, in the university's Civil Engineering department, are exploring how different construction materials might weaken or be destroyed by certain elements or events, such as fire. An upcoming graduate-level course will have students employing different methods for determining the reliability and structural integrity of materials, such as concrete, steel, wood and masonry when exposed to fire. Students will utilize visual inspections and hardness tests to check for material softening, and also will learn to use X-ray diffraction to examine microscopic changes and view ultrasound waves to detect internal damage to the materials.
“We think there's an under-explored area when it comes to the body of research devoted to constructing more fire-resilient structures," said Salem. “This course will teach students how to use both tried-and-true methods and the newest technologies to make smarter decisions for building in fire-prone communities."
Learn how the CSU promotes fire safety.