Rebuilding After the Fire: What You Need to Know, and What No One Tells You

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When a wildfire disaster strikes, it doesn't just destroy homes; it upends lives and changes your future. For those facing recovery, rebuilding can feel like stepping into a second storm, but this one is full of building code restrictions, tough decisions, and financial hardships. Whether you’re a homeowner, a contractor, or a community official, there’s one truth we all need to embrace: recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.

This article will review critical phases of recovery after a major fire, based on lessons learned in Sonoma and Napa County from 2017-2020. These experiences need to be shared, as knowledge backed by experience makes all the difference. As an example, the initial phases of recovery for the Sonoma and Napa County fires involved case-studies and hands-on experience from previous fire disasters such as the 1991 Oakland Hills fire and 2005 fires in San Diego County.

In the wake of disaster, the first thing most people turn to is their insurance policies. And while some policies seem “good,” pay quickly and without issue, many homeowners are shocked when policies turn “bad” and further payments related to the rebuild are reduced or outright denied. Then to rub salt on an open wound, they later become “ugly” and are not renewed after project completion. We have even witnessed some insurance companies “dig in their heels” and stall on approving payments, often leaving people in limbo for months or years.

The lesson? Insurance companies are doing business under increasingly intense scrutiny and need to minimize disbursements on a given claim. Your persistence, documentation, and outside professional help are your best allies. Attorneys, contractors well-versed in insurance work, or other experts in the realm of insurance are often necessary to navigate this process in order to fund your rebuild project.

After the flames are out, the land itself becomes a challenge. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) offers a debris removal program that may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s not always the best fit for everyone or every lot. Private clean-up options can sometimes be faster or more tailored, but they also come with their own risks and potentially higher costs.

One of the biggest concerns with debris removal is over-excavation. Removing too much soil changes the natural site topography that later must be addressed using taller retaining walls or deeper footings that must be established into native soil. New footings are not usually established into fill brought in after debris removal. At times, FEMA and CalOES brought in clean fill to address over-excavated sites where complaints were heard. However, the backfill was not documented by the Geotechnical Engineer hired by the Owner in most cases and therefore was not as useful to rebuild upon, since it was essentially undocumented fill. In this scenario, footings were still required to extend through the fill into the native soil. All this increases both foundation rebuild cost and site design costs that can delay rebuilding even further.

Existing foundations should be reviewed by a contractor, and a geotechnical or structural engineer. Some foundations are salvageable, even if they appear scorched, and some can be left in place unused without compromising the rebuild project. Existing foundations can provide slope stability to the exposed former building site in the months prior to the start of construction—in many ways that is what they were originally intended to do.

People don’t just lose homes and personal belongings in fires; they lose their records and building plans. Contact your local building departments, architects, structural engineers, and even your neighbors. They all can become crucial resources in piecing together lost building documents. A saved PDF or a scanned plan set could be priceless, and you never know what could be valuable for the re-building efforts.

From local building departments to FEMA and CalOES, government entities play an important role in recovery. Progress happens when temporary permitting offices are set up close to impacted areas, are supported by FEMA funding, and staffed by individuals who understand and are dedicated to the urgency of recovery.

If you are a public official: get proactive. People need answers, and they need them fast. If you are a homeowner, be your own advocate and demand transparency and support, you deserve it.

Homeowners recovering from the disaster are grieving survivors. They have suffered a huge loss and can be confused as to how to move forward. Nobody is excited or wants to go through this process. Often homeowners feel pressure to rebuild as quickly as possible or be left behind by all the other families that need to rebuild. But labor and resources are limited for everyone to rebuild at the same time.

Speed isn’t always the right choice, and recovery can come in waves. It’s okay to wait, gather strength, and proceed with a proper and well-conceived plan. Not everyone will (or should) rebuild immediately.

Even still, those who have homes that remain standing amongst the damage suffer a different kind of grief—the loss of neighborhoods, neighbors, property value, and other intangible elements of a neighborhood and region. Many may choose to sell their properties that are undamaged or partially damaged in a fire zone as real disruption will occur for the coming years. Polluted air for weeks and smoke damage lingers in existing homes and can be hazardous to continue living in the area. Even those who complete a rebuild in a given fire zone quickly have similar issues, or suffer psychological issues for years to come, and even have trouble sleeping in the rebuilt house on windy nights, leading to the sale of their newly rebuilt home. All these issues are items to consider before embarking upon a rebuild project as the original homeowner.

Even the most eager builder will have issues placing a new concrete slab if the road is gone or the water is toxic. Community recovery must prioritize:

These are invisible barriers that often hold up rebuilding longer than waiting for the design plans from an architect or engineer.

Rebuilding costs generally surge as demand outpaces both available labor as well as materials. From previous experience, labor tends to be in more scarce supply than materials, and even more populated cities see bottlenecks in available labor. Value those willing to help.

Expect these areas to be greatly affected during rebuilding:

Despite an increased interest in fire safe alternatives like steel or concrete construction, most people still rebuild using wood framing. It is a matter of economics and affordability. The most important thing you can do is rebuild using the latest fire-resistant standards and choose design professionals that have this knowledge.

Whether you are a builder or a homeowner, your success depends on your team.

Homeowners: Ask for references from your design professionals and contractors.

Builders: Work with experienced design professionals.

Architects/Designers: You are essential to the entire process and are advocates for all your clients that lost their home or building to a fire. Architects provide professional advice on building to Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) standards and lead teams in rebuilding entire neighborhoods.

Originally, subdivision-style neighborhoods may have a common theme or set of design guidelines set forth by the original developer and the City, but when these types of neighborhoods are destroyed in a wildfire scenario, during recovery each individual owner tends not to be subjected to the same types of design restrictions that were put on the original developer. After a few years of rebuilding, these new independent designs occurring all at once can lead to neighborhoods that appear mis-matched or out of character with the neighborhood, if proper architectural design is not considered.

The ground is just not the same after the fire. The soil is contaminated, and debris needs to be removed. Heat and erosion change soil content and structure. Every site should be re-evaluated, and a geotechnical report should be considered. In addition, verify that the Geotechnical Engineer can be available for construction support during initial phases of foundation construction.

In rugged areas, terrain becomes a critical variable. Fires often expose poor planning, homes built on unstable slopes, footings that are shallow without confinement, or building sites without proper drainage or driveway access.

Post-fire, expect:

Get creative with site stabilization and new building pad construction, which are the keys to a successful rebuild. A grading plan prepared by a Civil Engineer is often a necessary step to a successful foundation design that can be implemented directly by a contractor. Do not shy away from the site design. A stable site and proper foundation are critical building blocks for your rebuild.

As recovery accelerates, referrals become lifelines. Builders, architects, engineers and consultants should develop a network. Referrals help everyone and are not just good business, it’s community support in action.

Disaster recovery reshapes communities, not just in how they look, but in how they function and can bring a community closer together. For a few years after the event, construction may pivot almost entirely toward rebuilds. In the end, the folks who recover best are those who plan, collaborate, and communicate. Resilience isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a way of working, living, rebuilding, and eventually, recovering as best as we all can. ■

About the Authors

Eric Kreager, SE, Senior Principal and Owner of MKM & Associates Structural Engineering, brings deep expertise in Bay Area building codes, advanced structural engineering, and the complex challenges of wildfire recovery. His hands-on experience in post-disaster rebuilding has made him a trusted leader in restoring resilient communities.

Nick Stuart, SE, Engineering Project Manager at MKM & Associates Structural Engineering, oversees high-end residential and public works projects, guiding both engineering execution and business strategy. His leadership ensures precision, innovation, and lasting quality in every project the firm undertakes.