The Dixon Trail community in California could signal a way forward for stakeholders grappling with the heightened risk of building, owning, and insuring homes in the fire-prone West.
Dixon Trail: The Nation’s First Wildfire-Resilient Neighborhood
The Dixon Trail community in California could signal a way forward for stakeholders grappling with the heightened risk of building, owning, and insuring homes in the fire-prone West.
The Dixon Trail community in Escondido, California, might be a blueprint for the future of fire-resistant residential development.
In a state still reeling from the fires in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in January, this community north of San Diego could signal a way forward for builders, homeowners, and insurance companies grappling with the heightened risk of building, owning, and insuring homes in the fire-prone West.
The 64-home development is just one community, but it offers practical insights into the virtuous cycle of how fire-resistant new construction can attract both new buyers and insurance companies offering competitive rates.
Dixon Trail, the Nation’s First Wildfire-resilient Neighborhood
Dixon Trail is the nation’s first “wildfire-resilient neighborhood,” meeting both the home- and neighborhood-level wildfire resilience standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS).
Developed by KB Home, Dixon Trail is designed to IBHS’s highest standards of protection against direct flame contact and radiant heat. While the development isn’t fireproof, its design and features, at both the individual house and neighborhood level, decrease the likelihood that a structure will catch fire and that such a fire will spread quickly.
Construction is only halfway complete, and new homes start at over $1 million (the median home value in San Diego County is $920,000), but each structure adheres to the IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home Plus standard, a set of building and maintenance requirements that reduces wildfire risk. It includes:
Class A fire-rated roof.
Noncombustible gutters and downspouts.
Flame and ember-resistant vents.
A 5-foot noncombustible zone that surrounds the house (known as “zone zero”).
A maintained yard with spaced structures and vegetation that creates a 30-foot defensible space surrounding each house.
Dual-pane tempered glass windows.
Fire-resistant stucco.
At the neighborhood level, Dixon Trail has protective measures in place that meet IBHS’s Wildfire Prepared Neighborhood standard.
Homes are spaced out to reduce the risk of fires passing from one home to the next.
The neighborhood has minimal flammable vegetation.
Lots are separated by non-combustible metal fencing.
IBHS Wildfire Prepared building specifications
Buyers Seek Fire-resistant Homes
For home buyers in Southern California, home buying is no longer just about location, location, location. A fire-resistant neighborhood holds great appeal for those seeking added protection against wildfires. “Buyers want to feel safe in their homes and this is a really big plus for them,” said Steve Ruffner, the regional general manager for KB Home’s coastal division.
Not only does a home in Dixon Trail come standard with fire-resistant features and materials that are in high demand among homeowners, but it also comes with a lower risk of losing home and fire insurance.
“The IBHS Wildfire Prepared Home Plus standard at Dixon Trail is going to help customers obtain insurance from an admitted state carrier, which will save them a lot of money over the state insurance program,” Ruffner said.
The positioning of Dixon Trail as an appealing destination for people seeking safety from wildfires reflects dynamics that didn’t exist even five years ago. For example:
Recent fires across California have revealed the extent of wildfire risk for existing and new communities. Between 1990 and 2020, the number of homes in fire-prone areas of California grew by 40%. Today, one in eight properties in the state faces “very high” fire risk.
Home hardening is no longer a luxury expense or an elective upgrade. It is now a necessary condition for insurable homeownership. Speaking about home hardening, Yana Valachovic, a forest health and fire expert with the University of California, said, “It needs to be spoken about in the advertisement of the house, because these are all keys to insurability and the protection of your investment.” She added: “Fuels management and home hardening are just as important as a remodeled kitchen at this point.”
A 2025 report from Headwater Economics found that to rebuild a 2,000-square-foot home in California with fire-resistant upgrades, a homeowner might need to invest $30,000. However, Karen Collins, vice president of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, regards home hardening retrofits as “pre-disaster mitigation” measures that offer “a huge return on investment from what is otherwise spent at the loss.”
Fire-resistant Homes Can Reduce Insurance Premiums
The state of California’s program, Safer from Wildfires, outlines 10 steps that can lead to greater safety and reduced insurance premiums (California also has a state-wide Sustainable Insurance Strategy). According to State Farm, homeowners can expect to save between 6-10% on their homeowners policy if they complete the full range of wildfire mitigation measures.
If approved, a homebuyer who purchases a Wildfire Prepared Home Plus property can expect savings on insurance. While many carriers in California are reducing their exposure across the state, Mercury Insurance, a Southern California insurance company, believes such homes are worth insuring, and they’ll write more policies.
“Homes that have been certified as a Wildfire Prepared Home or Wildfire Prepared Home Plus are excellent risks and it’s highly likely that Mercury would renew these customers. Other factors are also considered when offering renewals, but we believe homes that achieve these designations are significantly better wildfire risks and would therefore be much more likely to be renewed,” a Mercury executive told Forbes.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times after the January fires, Victor Joseph, President of Mercury, said that he believes the changes underway in building codes, fire mitigation, and community planning have reduced the risk of damage from wildfires. As a result, Mercury is optimistic: it is writing new insurance policies for new-build homes in places like Paradise, California, the source of a devastating 2018 fire, and not cancelling existing policies.
“I think people have to maybe pause just for a beat and think about, do you want to build back exactly the same way? Because if you do, we’re going to be having this conversation again in a few decades,” Joseph said. “Companies like us put a lot of emphasis on what you have zero to five feet from your home.”
Joseph pointed to bright spots, like the Orchard Hills community in Orange County, which was planned and built to be fire resistant. Designed with layers and levels of fire-hardening, this community, built in the wildland-urban interface, escaped damage from the 2020 Silverado fire.
As more and more California homeowners struggle to get or retain insurance, those in the Dixon Trail community might find it easier and more affordable to get their homes insured.
“What we see in Escondido at the Dixon Trail development with KB Home is what we need to see replicated across the West,” he said. “When new construction is occurring, we need to build homes that are survivable and insurable.”
Francis Bouchard, Managing Director of Climate for Marsh McLennan, recently interviewed Roy Wright, CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS), to discuss the future of insurance in the age of climate change and the importance of product innovation.
