Losses in Coches Fire show need for firewise upgrades to mobilehomes: County offers grants and loans to mobilehome owners

by ECM | September 9, 2025 10:47 pm

By Miriam Raftery

Photos and video by Josh Stotler

View video[1]

Updated Sept. 10, 2025 with latest damage assessment based on a report from Lakeside’s Fire Marshal

September 9, 2025 (Lakeside) – Swift action by firefighters including aerial attacks held yesterday’s Coches Fire to 5.3 acres, but the damage was substantial. Five homes were destroyed, including three mobilehomes at the Monterey Mobile Lodge, according to Lakeside Fire Protection District’s Fire  Marshal Jeremy Davis, following a walkaround of the burned sites and perimeter areas  Three other homes in the mobilehome park were damaged, and a detached garage also had damage.

Cal Fire Captain Mike Cornette told ECM photographer Josh Stotler that 10 to 15 vehicles wer eburned. There were also two reported civilian injuries, a burn victim and another person who suffered smoke inhalation, said Cornette.

The losses and close calls draw attention to the need to improve safety of mobile homes to protect against wildfires, since even the swiftest possible firefighting response to yesterday’s fire could not prevent loss of property–and very nearly human life.

Resident Sharon Edwards has been lauded as an “angel” for rescuing her neighbor, 90-year-old Evelyn Buhl, who is blind and cannot walk.  “I didn’t smell anything … until my neighbor came banging on my house and got me out of here, but that’s the only way,” Buhl said, Times of San DIego reports. “I would still have been in there.”

Edwards’ own mobile home was gutted by the fire, while Buhl’s home was damaged.  For Buhl, the fire brought back disturbing memories, since she lost the home she shared with her daughter and son-in-law during the 2003 Cedar Fire.

Rene Evans lives next door to a mobilehome that  burned down. She told ECM that her neighbor’s cats perished and he also lost his vehicle, making his loss even more devastating.

Evans had some damage to her home and was displaced overnight. View interview[2].  “We had a lot of air support and fire engines here,” she said, but adding that the wind was blowing embers onto roofs ahead of the fire.

Evans says she has exterior as well as interior sprinklers, and has taken care to eliminate weeds on her property, steps that may have helped save her home.

“Yes, this was a very serious fire in an urban interface area,” says Stotler, who has a firefighting background. “It’s impressive it was held to 5.3 acres. It could have been much worse without as much air support as they assigned to the fire.”

The first engine arrived within a couple of minutes after the fire was reported on the Highway 80 business loop east of Los Coches Road inj Lakeside. Other crews soon arrived, with 15 more engines swiftly requested by the incident commander. Local helicopters dropped water and fixed-wing aircraft also responded to the fire, though fire retardant could not be dropped on mobile homes due to firefighters on the ground and people evacuating in the crowded space.

17,300 residents were under evacuation orders, county Supervisor Joel Anderson said in an email listing resources.

The fire accelerated quickly in part due to propane tanks exploding and vehicle fuel tanks bursting into flames.

Mobile homes can burn quickly, and are often located close to other mobile homes, enabling fire to spread quickly.  Several  years ago, the March Fire in Alpine devasted a mobile home park, burning dozens of structures.

These fires highlight the danger that wildfires pose to mobile home park residents. But there are steps you can take to harden your home and make it more wildfire resistant.

San Diego  offers grants and loans for mobile home owners and manufactured home owners to make home health and safety repairs, including fire safety upgrades, Supervisor Anderson advises.

To qualify, mobile home owners must live in unincorporated areas of San Diego County,  or in certain cities, including Lemon Grove and Poway in the inland region.  The homeowner must have lived there for at least one year before the application is approved and have a household annual income at or below 80% of  San Diego County’s Area Median Income[3].  For a family of 1, that’s $92,700; for 2 people, it’s $105,950, for 3 people $119,200, 4 people $132,400 and so forth.

The home repair grant program provides up to $20,000 that does not have to be paid back.

The home repair loan program allows owners of to borrow up to $25,000 at 3% annual interest.  No monthly payment is required, but the loan must be repaid after 30 years or sooner if the home sells, is transferred, or the owner moves out.

For more information or to add your name to the program waitlist, please call 858-694-4847. . Learn more here.[4]

There are many steps you can take to reduce the wildfire risk to a mobile home or manufactured home.  The County of Marin has an excellent guide for making your mobile home safer from wildfires.[5]

Key steps include:

• Create defensible space around your home, with nothing combustible within five feet around the mobile home.  If there’s room between your mobile home and others, clear 30 feet around your residence of dead grasses, weeds and other combustible foliage. Create space between plants and trim limbs to avoid “ladder fuel” for fires.  Don’t use any bark mulch or gorilla hair mulch, which are highly flammable. Keep the roof clear of  leaves or debris.

• Harden your home to protect from wind-blown embers, the most common cause of wildfires igniting homes. Don’t have any combustible materials under decks or beneath the mobile home. Decks should have corrosion-resistant metal screening with 1/8 inch mesh from the edge of the deck to the ground. Don’t have a fence that can burn (including wood and vinyl) within five feet of your residence; choose a metal fence such as chain link instead.

• Replace flammable siding (such as vinyl that melts) with safer alternatives. Many fiber cement siding products carry a Class A flame spread index, the safest level possible, and can slow the spread of a fire.  Steel siding is also a good choice, but avoid aluminum siding which can melt at less than half the temperature needed to melt steel. Brick and stone veneers over wooden frames can reduce the risk of fire damage substantially, but avoid thin veneers that look like brick or stone.

• If you can afford it, install fiber-cement trim around windows and doors, and be sure all openings are well sealed.

• If your budget allows, consider replacing an old fire-prone home with a new fire-resistant manufactured home.  If you live in a high fire hazard severity zone, all new manufactured homes must conform to Title 24, Part 2,Chapter 7A to qualify for building permits.

• Exterior sprinklers can be considered, but are less important than making the mobile home itself fire hardened such as with non-flammable siding and decking.  Check with your fire department first to see if there’s adequate water supply  for an extended period.  Some exterior sprinklers can be activated manually or by an automated device using a sensor or cell phone, but sensors may not pick up wind-driven embers, since they rely on detection of heat and flames. Water spray landing on a hot window may cause glass to break and allow fire to enter. Water may not protect undersides of mobile homes. As for interior sprinklers, while these can douse a fire that starts inside your home, interior sprinklers will not stop a wildfire, that burns the home from the outside inward.

 

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