Evaluating Modular Strategies for Building Wildfire Resilient Communities

As wildfires intensify with climate change, hardening the wildland-urban interface through thoughtfully designed communities proves paramount. California’s Butte County employed Lida Homes studying clustered modular formats fostering neighborly support networks critical to defending remote properties despite constrained infrastructure. Researchers assessed outcomes supporting social cohesion and self-reliance.

The Cohasset Cooperative Village

Designed through community workshops, planners mapped 50 homes across 5 blocks, with shared green spaces and a community barn. Multi-family “cottage cluster” homes hosted up to 6 units, while detached homes edged the rural boundary.

Social Integration
Central commons hosted gatherings, while back alleys positioned garages communally. Neighbors performed daily tasks and chores collectively like childcare. Over 80% of residents reported strong ties developing.

Emergency Preparedness
An evacuation route exited the protected village interior, while the barn sheltered a firefighting workshop outfitting vehicles and training neighbors in coordination with local brigades.

Wildfire Defense Strategy
During a 280-acre blaze, cooperative fire watch rotations safely sheltered over 100 residents and livestock within the irrigated perimeter utilizing communal equipment and evacuation protocol effectively. No homes were lost.

Key benefits included:

– Clustered densities enabled constant neighborly supervision critical to swift wildfire identification and response.

– Cooperative formats distributed preparedness tasks and chores supporting social reliance strengthening collective defense.

– Modular designs expedited village establishment in remote zones otherwise challenging to develop with site-built methods.

Properly planned, cooperative villages may optimize wildland edge communities’ social cohesion and self-reliance enhancing resilience to climate threats through collaborative living.

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