SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Fire officials have long urged California residents take steps limiting their home's vulnerability to wildfire in the event flames reach their doorstep — whether its vegetation management or keeping combustible materials like propane tanks at a distance. But what if the home itself could also be retrofitted withstand flames? That is a prevention tactic Cal Fire is now working to expand, especially among those living in high fire-risk zones. The concept of hardening one's home by taking steps to limit the vulnerabilities of it to flames is nothing new. For many people, however, it is an approach that has largely been out of reach given the high costs associated with renovation and use of fire-resistant materials. Under a relatively new state pilot program, that has begun to change. Tribal representatives call on Biden to designate new national monuments in California Called the California Wildfire Mitigation Program, Cal Fire in partnership with the governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is now offering grants to low and moderate-income residents of high fire risk areas to renovate their homes in ways that make it more resistant to flames. One of the first completed home-retrofitting projects in the state through this grant program was unveiled in Dulzura, a small town in San Diego County's backcountry, on Tuesday. "I took a flyer, I saw a sign and I applied for it. I didn't know what I was going to get," said Chris Bilbray, the home's owner. "The work that's been done is work that probably would have taken me and my family 10 plus years to complete … a lot of it I would have never even thought of to do to make my home safe." Cal Fire contractors replaced his porch with one made of FireX-treated lumber, installed fiber-cement skirting and a noncombustible crawl space door, upgraded the attic vents with ember resistant ones, and rescreened windows with aluminum ones instead of the traditional nylon. They also created a "zone zero," or a roughly five-foot buffer zone within the home's defensible space that is completely free of anything flammable. For Bilbray's home, Cal Fire contractors laid a pathway of gravel. Cal Fire unveiled first "fire-resistant" home in Dulzura, Calif. through a new state pilot program. (FOX 5/KUSI)Cal Fire unveiled first "fire-resistant" home in Dulzura, Calif. through a new state pilot program. (FOX 5/KUSI)Cal Fire unveiled first "fire-resistant" home in Dulzura, Calif. through a new state pilot program. (FOX 5/KUSI)Cal Fire unveiled first "fire-resistant" home in Dulzura, Calif. through a new state pilot program. (FOX 5/KUSI) "It's more than defensible space," said Jeff Collins, director of the San Diego County Fire District. "There's so much more that homeowners can do besides the defensible space. Not every homeowner has the resources to do that, so that's why we're here to help." Right now, Cal Fire is focusing their efforts to the hundreds of residents in a handful of communities in four of the state's counties — San Diego, Lake, Shasta and Siskiyou. As fire officials explained, this limitation helps them to make sure every homeowner who needs access to this prevention support has it, lowering overall fire risk for the entire community. Thanksgiving travel in SoCal expected to hit record high: What to expect "What we have found is that if one home does everything right and the next door neighbor does not, both homes still remain at risk," State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant said. "We have to make sure our preparedness is at the neighborhood level." Plans to expand the program in the near future to communities in Tuolumne and El Dorado counties are already in the works. Portero and Campo residents in San Diego County will also soon have access to the grants. More information about how to apply for the grant program can be found on Cal OES's website. For those who want to begin hardening their home on their own, Cal Fire's website has a comprehensive fire-preparedness guide. "The more that homeowners can do to prevent that from happening, the better," Berlant said.