How this Gardena firm constructs fire-resistant properties, serving to hearth victims – NBC Los Angeles

An 82-year-old girl who misplaced her dwelling to the Palisades Fireplace final winter is quickly transferring into her new home, which has been manufactured from fire-resistant supplies because of a Gardena-based firm.

Sue LaBella marveled on the options of her new dwelling as she explored the area she will get to name hers once more. She was one of many 1000’s of residents displaced by the lethal brush hearth after her dwelling perished within the blaze. A yr later, she’s replanting her roots proper in the very same spot.

Her new dwelling, constructed by Gardena-based firm Cowl, was constructed to withstand fires and earthquakes. It’s manufactured from metal, tempered glass, ignition-resistant wooden and different supplies to assist it face up to pure disasters.

“It’s about as shut as you will get and having one thing that’s actually California-proof,” mentioned Buddy Squire, LaBella’s son-in-law.

Cowl takes a singular strategy to building by constructing its supplies in its Gardena warehouse earlier than taking them to property websites for meeting. Alexis Rivas, who co-founded the corporate, mentioned that by constructing their dwelling supplies in-house, it helps his workforce streamline the development course of.

“What we noticed was a possibility to make properties on a manufacturing line extra like how automobiles are made and construct higher properties sooner at the next high quality,” he mentioned.

To assist the general public higher perceive how Cowl works, Rivas in contrast the corporate’s course of to constructing blocks.

One Altadena house owner mentioned tenacity paid off as he known as LA County for assist on a regular basis. Lolita Lopez studies for the NBC4 Information at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.

“It’s like LEGO blocks, proper? So, our manufacturing line makes the identical LEGO blocks after which we use these components to make properties of all types of layouts,” Rivas mentioned. “Sue’s dwelling with a courtyard, a few of them are an L-shape.”

Though the properties Cowl designs are customizable, they’re all primarily made up of the identical items, permitting for mass manufacturing.

“We transfer as a lot of the complexity that will usually occur on the development web site, we transfer that complexity to the manufacturing unit, the place you are able to do it on a manufacturing line much more effectively in a extra ergonomic setup,” Rivas mentioned. “And by doing so, we are able to construct extra properties for a similar variety of individuals.”

To study extra about Cowl, click on right here.