Rebuilding After the Southern
California Firestorms:

In October of 1993 a series of wildfires swept across southern California stretching from Laguna to Malibu and spreading out through the valley areas of Altadena and Eaton Canyon. In all, thousands of acres were burned and hundreds of homes were lost. The victims of the "Firestorm" as it was called, faced the daunting task of rebuilding their homes and lives. At the time, I was volunteering at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo as the Director of the California Center for Construction Education for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. The goal of my Center was to produce and deliver quality continuing education to the working professionals and practitioners within the construction industry. About a year earlier, recognizing the quandary that many homeowners faced as they set out to build their first home, I wrote a program for a six hour seminar accompanied by a workbook as an introduction to the process. It was simply titled: "Having It Built: A Consumer's Guide to Purchasing Construction Services." After the news of the Firestorm was only a week old, I approached the Chair of the Construction Management Department and asked him if he would be interested in co-presenting the "Having It Built" program with me to as many of the fire victims that we could assemble. Before another two weeks had passed, we were in contact with recovery groups and grass roots efforts to schedule presentations of our program. The seminar was filled with information regarding contracts, permits, insurance, the roles of architects, contractors, subcontractors, estimating costs, billing practices for completed work, the art of scheduling, and most important, mechanics liens management. It was a careful blend of helpful tips, construction law, communication management and common sense. After several presentations, we felt that those who attended the workshops were better equipped and informed to travel the path to rebuilding their homes. Then in 1994, the "Highway 41 Fire" ran through portions of San Luis Obispo County leveling homes in its path and leaving many families in the area burnt out of their homes. Once again, the team reorganized and began a series of seminars to assist the latest group of fire victims. Cal Poly, once again provided facilities and support so the "Having It Built" could assist hundreds more victims as they embarked on rebuilding their homes.

For nearly nine years the fire seasons in southern California did not produce the large losses and casualties recorded in '93 and '94. But in 2003, the Firestorm returned with a fury that dwarfed the fires of a decade before. This time the workshops became a traveling road show reaching out to hundreds of families as they sought to deal with issues of under insurance, changing zoning laws and other obstacles to rebuilding their homes as they were and where they were before. It was marked by a series of lawsuits between building and safety departments, insurance companies and planning departments. This time, however, Cal Poly was not involved with the training programs, so I headed off alone to lend what help I could to the thousands who lost their largest worldly asset... their family home.