← Fire Safety & Insurability

What You Can Do Now

If you are rebuilding

  • Plan to build to the Enhanced level and share the requirements with your architect and builder before plans are finalized.
  • Pay particular attention to items the new code does not fully cover: the 0–5 foot zone, eaves, windows, exterior doors, decks, and the placement of any accessory structure or ADU.
  • A recent analysis by Headwaters Economics and IBHS found that building to Enhanced adds approximately 3% to the cost of key wildfire-resistant components (roofing, eaves, siding, and windows) compared with traditional construction.

If you are repairing or rehabilitating a surviving home

  • Start with the highest-impact, lowest-cost items: ember-resistant vents; clearing plants, mulch, and combustible fencing from the 0–5 foot zone; clearing debris from the roof and gutters; and moving firewood, furniture, and stored items away from the structure.
  • Plan larger upgrades, such as glass, siding, and decks, according to your zone's standard. Many homes will start at Essential and move up over time.

For everyone

  • Talk with your neighbors on your block. Block certification depends on collective participation.
  • Keep records and photographs of upgrades you make. They support certification and any conversations with insurers.
  • Ask your insurance agent or broker what they require now, and keep asking as the market changes.
  • Contact us with questions, and watch this website and the Sunset Mesa e-newsletter for updates.

Start here · Free

Get a free Home Ignition Zone evaluation

The Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCDSMM) offers free 45–60 minute visits. A trained evaluator reviews your home and landscape and gives you personalized recommendations plus a written summary. RCDSMM knows the IBHS requirements, so it is a no-cost way to learn what your home would need for certification. The report is shared only with you.

Sign up for a free evaluation or email wildfire@rcdsmm.org

There is currently no guarantee that private insurers will return to Sunset Mesa, or that any individual mitigation project will produce a specific insurance outcome. But in another fire, these strategies will help your home survive, and may even save lives.

The more we reduce known vulnerabilities, document the work, and pursue recognized mitigation pathways grounded in wildfire science, the stronger Sunset Mesa's risk-reduction story becomes. Every home that is certified, and every block that organizes to pursue it together, makes Sunset Mesa safer and stronger, and makes this a neighborhood people will want to insure, lend to, and move back into.

Where to learn more

All sections of this guide
  1. Why We're Taking This On
  2. IBHS & How Homes Burn
  3. Flame Zone or Ember Zone?
  4. What the Standards Require
  5. The 0–5 Foot Zone
  6. Insurance & Mercury's Standard
  7. How to Get Certified
  8. Neighborhood & Block Certification
  9. What You Can Do Now