The image of the red-roofed house with a white facade has captivated social media, appearing unscathed amidst the rubble following the devastating wildfire in Lahaina last week.
The house on Front Street is not the only property that survived the blaze. The entire neighborhood remained unaffected as the fire swept through Maui. However, the sight of the intact house against the backdrop of destruction was so striking that some people suspected it was a digital creation, according to Los Angeles Times.
The intact white house after the fire. (Photo: LA Times).
However, the homeowner, Dora Atwater Millikin, and her husband confirmed that the situation is indeed real. They were visiting family in Massachusetts when the fire broke out and had recently renovated the house, but not with the intention of reinforcing it against a fire. The 100-year-old house was once home to a bookkeeper for the Pioneer Mill Co., a sugarcane plantation that operated in Lahaina since the mid-19th century. The owners aimed to restore some of the building’s original architecture.
With permission from the county authorities, the Millikins replaced the asphalt shingle roof with a metal one. Originally, the roof was made of wood boards or thin corrugated tin. The homeowners also laid stone from the ground to the eaves of the roof, which extends 90 to 100 cm from the wall. The couple removed all foliage touching the house, not just to reduce fire risk but also due to concerns about termites spreading through the wooden frame. Their only decision to combat natural disasters was to install hurricane ties.
These changes seem to have had an unintended effect, making the house more fire-resistant. “When the fire broke out, there were pieces of wood 15-30 cm floating in the air with the wind and crashing into the roofs of homes. If made from asphalt shingles, the roof would catch fire. If not, the wood would fall off the roof and then ignite the foliage around the house,” Millikin explained.
The roof is the primary factor contributing to a house’s susceptibility to catching fire as it acts as a significant buffer for the flames, according to Susie Kocher, a forestry advisor with the Cooperative Extension program at the University of California. The next important factor is the surrounding environment, meaning the area around the structure. Experts recommend that homeowners clear flammable vegetation within a radius of 1.5 meters and replace it with hard materials like pavers or gravel, similar to what the Millikins did. “If there are flammable plants and brush, especially those that ignite easily, right next to the house and they catch fire, the heat can shatter windows, allowing flames to enter the house,” Kocher shared.
The Millikin house also benefited from not being close to other structures in the neighborhood, with three sides bordering the sea and an open space resembling a park. “One of the biggest fuel sources is the neighboring houses. So when one house catches fire, if there is another house nearby, the fire can spread,” Kocher explained.
The risk is highest when a house on fire is within 10 meters or less, according to Stephen Quarles, an honorary advisor for the Cooperative Extension program. The most vulnerable parts are the sides of the house, windows, floors, and attics.
When the wildfire swept through the neighborhood, it is quite common for some houses to remain standing while others are reduced to ashes, due to the wind pushing flames toward the vulnerable parts of the structures or surrounding foliage. Additionally, some houses are simply better equipped to withstand fires than others. Many speculate that the Millikin house escaped damage due to its automatic sprinkler system. While their house is equipped, many similar homes in the area still burned down. When the fire erupted, the power was out, and the sprinkler system was inoperable.
