The Fires We Remember

by Jorie Wisnefski

The current wildfires in Washington have made me reflect on old fears. 

As a little girl, I went through a phase where I wouldn't sleep over at friends' houses because I was convinced there would be a fire and I wouldn't be able to get back to my family. I understood that fire is a living, breathing beast, and it’s impossible to ignore. It still fascinates me.

As I thought about this week's Fresh Eyes article, I couldn't help but wonder about fire safety in the modular world.

As someone who has spent much of the last decade immersed in the wood industry, fire is never far from the conversation. Whether it's wildfires, lumbermills, mass timber, or new fire resistant technologies, the innovation question keeps resurfacing, How do we build safer?

So, I asked the ModCoach, Gary Fleisher.

He told me about a fire in Massachusetts more than a decade ago that made headlines. A modular home burned to the ground, and the homeowner sued the dealer and manufacturer, alleging the home's design contributed to the fire. The case sparked significant debate, and questions were raised about whether fire had spread through hidden spaces between floors, what firefighters call the balloon frame void or the floor truss cavity.

In the end, investigators concluded the fire started when a lit cigarette was left in a flower box on the side of the home.

The tragedy wasn't caused by modular construction.

But by then, the conversation had already taken on a life of its own.

That reminded me of something cognitive scientist and Northwestern University Professor David Rapp studies. Once people form an understanding from the first version of a story, it can be remarkably difficult to replace it with new information or evidence. Our brains like to hang on to what we learned first.

Industries aren't immune to that.

A single event can shape public perception long after engineers and builders have gone back to work solving the very problems people still associate with them.

Reading through discussions from 2010, many of the proposed solutions focused on preventing drywall ceilings from falling during a fire. Fire officials were concerned that polyurethane foam adhesives could fail under extreme heat, allowing fire to reach concealed spaces between floors. At the time, those conversations made sense. People were trying to solve the problem with the knowledge and materials they had.

But over the past 16 years, innovation hasn’t stood still.

Today, we're seeing entirely different approaches to fire protection. Instead of focusing solely on how components perform once a fire starts, companies are developing technologies to reduce heat transfer, improve fire resistance, and minimize the toxicity associated with traditional fire retardant treatments. Products like HausShield Pro are an example of how innovation has shifted from reacting to fire toward helping prevent it from becoming catastrophic in the first place.

It’s amazing to me.

The modular industry didn't stop innovating after that fire. Neither did the wood products industry. Researchers, manufacturers, and builders have continued asking better questions and finding better answers.

Yet many people still remember the headline, not the progress.

Maybe that's the challenge every industry faces.

It's not enough to improve. We also have to tell the story of that innovation.

Every industry has a fire it wishes people would forget.

We cannot pretend those moments didn't happen, nor should we. The better goal is to see things with Fresh Eyes so yesterday's headlines don't define today's reality—or become the only story people remember. Alongside every challenge is a story of progress and people working to make it better.

Fresh Eyes on Offsite

Follow stories and insights from Jorie Wisnefski as she explores the people, challenges, and innovations shaping modular construction. Through conversations with industry leaders and a curious outsider’s perspective, Jorie takes a look at what’s moving the industry forward.