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No matter how many houses are rebuilt in the area burned by the Fourmile Fire, most of the buildings will never be the same -- even if the homes are constructed the same size in the same footprint.

And that's a good thing, according to county staffers, who say the Fourmile Fire, which destroyed 169 homes west of Boulder, is both a tragedy and an opportunity to upgrade the county's housing stock with homes that are both greener and more fire-resistant.

"This is an opportunity that we don't want to miss," said Doug Parker, building sustainability examiner for the county's Land Use Department.

The homes lost in the fire, which began on Labor Day and burned more than 6,100 acres, ranged in size and age. The oldest homes were built in 1880, according to the assessor's database, and the newest were built just a couple of years ago. The smallest houses lost were cabins with footprints around 300 square feet, and the largest homes were as big as 10,000 square feet.

"Some were built more than 100 years ago and others were built 40 to 50 years ago," Eric Philips, wildfire mitigation coordinator for the county, told the Camera earlier this fall. "Some were built before we had permitting requirements."

Now, fire victims who hope to rebuild will have to meet stringent requirements for both wildfire mitigation and green building to get the permits necessary to start construction.


The county has had some form of wildfire mitigation requirements for building permits since the late 1980s, said Jeff Dwight, assistant building official, and commissioners put in place more stringent regulations in the mid-90s, after the Black Tiger Fire destroyed 44 homes on Sugarloaf Mountain.

Today's rules require homeowners in the county's forested areas to clear a defensible space around their house and to build with ignition-resistant materials. And while Dwight said some people have taken "ignition-resistant" to mean "must build a stucco house," that isn't the case.

The exact materials allowed depends on which of three wildfire hazard zones the home will be built in -- extreme, high or moderate -- and even in extreme zones, a material that emulates wood can be used.

"Other than having a wood deck or a wood roof, you can pretty much build what you want," Dwight said.

People hoping to rebuild in the burn zone will also have to comply with the county's BuildSmart green-building codes, which have now been in effect for more than two years. Some fire victims have expressed concerns about the added cost of building to the BuildSmart standards, but Parker said the additional cost is often far less than people imagine.

"We are projecting an increase in cost of $2 to $5 per square foot," he said. "And our studies indicate that your average 2,000-square-foot (home) will save over $500 a year (in utility bills)."

For Brooke Weathers, who lost her home in Sunshine Canyon, the opportunity to build a greener house is part of what inspired her to rebuild at all.

"I was never excited about losing everything; but I got excited about building something better," said Weathers, who worked in green building for a year and a half prior to the fire. "When we started talking about rebuilding, I said, 'Look, what can we do to build a more energy-efficient home?'"
