A peculiar house has been making headlines after remaining virtually untouched by the recent Maui wildfires, while the houses surrounding it have all been destroyed.
The house is owned by Dora Atwater Millikin, who spoke with The LA Times after the photo of their lone-standing house went viral. “It’s a 100% wood house so it’s not like we fireproofed it or anything,” Atwater Millikin said when asked if there was any structural reason that the house remained intact. She and her husband were visiting family in Massachusetts when the fire began.
The house was recently restored, and foliage was cleaned off the roof, which might have helped keep it safe from flames. “There were pieces of wood — 6, 12 inches long — that were on fire and just almost floating through the air with the wind and everything,” Atwater Millikin said. “They would hit people’s roofs, and if it was an asphalt roof, it would catch on fire. And otherwise, they would fall off the roof and then ignite the foliage around the house.” Because the roof was recently cleaned, it could have helped fend off flames, in addition to being located farther away from the neighbors.
From the LA Times:
Working closely with the county and the local historic commission, they replaced the asphalt roof with heavy-gauge metal — the home would have originally had a roof of either wooden shake or thinner-grade corrugated tin, she said. They lined the ground with stones up to the drip line of the roof, which overhangs by 36 to 40 inches.
And they removed foliage that was up against the house — not because they were trying to reduce the risk of ignition, but because they were concerned about termites spreading to the wooden frame, she said. Their only nod toward disaster preparedness was to install hurricane ties, she added.
While Atwater Millikin is grateful that their home managed to remain scorch-free, she says it’s also a sad reminder of what they all lost. “Many people have died,” she said. “So many people have lost everything, and we need to look out for each other and rebuild. Everybody needs to help rebuild.”
The current death toll for the Maui fires has climbed to 111, while thousands are still missing.