Building in fire-prone areas necessitates everything from pre-fire prevention to post-fire support. NOUS Engineering’s expertise runs the gamut. 

We have supported over three dozen fire-rebuild projects across Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, helping families and communities recover from the 2025 wildfires. Our team brings forward lessons from previous events, including the 2017 Thomas Fire and the 2018 Woolsey Fire, as well as other hillside recovery projects across Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. 

Post-fire reconstruction involves navigating a complex mix of needs. Regulatory compliance has to be carried out while technical needs are met. And this must all be balanced with care for the community, including homeowner education and, importantly, keeping timelines moving quickly to minimize disruption and uncertainty.

Community recovery is at the heart of what we do. In supporting these efforts across Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, we’ve conducted structural assessments and worked alongside architects and forensic teams to document conditions and identify safe paths to rebuild. Through programs with Office of: Office, we’ve provided early design guidance, permitting support, and homeowner education, helping residents navigate complex post-fire constraints and move toward resilient, long-term reconstruction. 

Our work in this area is inherently collaborative. We’ve worked with architects including LOHA, ORA, Ball-Nogues, Mutuo, Westside Build, Johnston Marklee, RADAR, June Street Architecture, Jacobschang Architecture, and Pooja Bhagat Architects & Planners—tailoring our approach to the specific requirements of each project. Our typical scope includes securing post-fire permitting and identifying CEQA pathways; septic and seawall evaluation/replacement and geologic and hillside stabilization; capturing and legalizing unpermitted square footage and designing within the post fire +10% allowance; and creating structural strategies for climate-adaptive materials and assemblies and evaluation of nonstandard construction systems for fire resilience. 

This last piece is particularly important. NOUS supports forward-looking recovery efforts through resilience-focused design initiatives and innovative rebuild strategies. We’ve engineered low-carbon prototype homes as part of Case Study: Adapt, as well as relocated and retrofitted a 100-year-old house with Omgivning to replace a residence lost in the Eaton Canyon fire. These projects integrate seismic upgrades, fire-resilient assemblies, and site-specific adaptation to create safer, long-term housing solutions.

We deploy our expertise in order to bring to life a more resilient, climate-adaptive approach to rebuilding in high-risk zones.