I assume most people have seen pictures of this house.
Before fires ripped through Lahaina, the craftsman-inspired home at 271 Front St. didn’t stand out much in the neighborhood. The nearly 100-year-old structure had been lovingly restored in recent years, but it was one of many charming homes lining the waterfront of one of Hawaii’s most historically important towns.
Today, the house is unmissable: A red-roofed structure in seemingly pristine condition, surrounded by piles of ash and rubble for blocks in every direction.
—What Saved The ‘Miracle House’ In Lahaina?
When the owners renovated the house they weren’t trying to make it fireproof, but they put on a metal roof and cleared the vegetation for 5 feet around the house to protect it from termites. In this case it turned out to be enough for it to survive the fire.
Our house in the mountains has a metal roof, of course, and there Andy is working hard to keep a 100-foot defensible space around all the buildings. Sooner or later there will be another fire and we don’t want to have to rebuild again.
August 23, 2023
has to have been a miracle. i have not seen this until now. hope your metal roof and defensible space works for your lovely home and also hope no fire comes to test it. thanks for sharing this, i would have missed it
Thanks. 🙂
Wow! I heard something about a ‘red roof’ on last night’s news but was in another room and didn’t catch the story. Who’d have guessed! Now I wonder how many more metal roofs are in builders’ plans.
They will be thinking about fire protection now, and metal roofs are the way to go.
I haven’t seen this but WOW, that’s amazing. Was it just the metal roof and clearing the vegetation? Or was there a higher power looking over them and protecting them? Maybe a combination of both?
There was probably a bit of luck involved too. The house was built of wood, so if the walls were hit by burning material it would have burned too.
Truly amazing!!
🙂
I suspect their property was also moist as the grass looks green. Good job, people.
🙂
There has to be a reason that house was saved. Truly amazing!!! We hope your home in the mountains is always safe too.
Thank you. 🙂
well, I saw this news maybe 2 days ago, here in little ole New Zealand
one thing I read about the defensible space around your house, better is it’s not plant related but either concrete or gravel. A lot of houses here have metal roofs but with wooden siding – brick and tile quite common.
We have fireproof siding.
I haven’t seen anything about that house. That’s amazing.
🙂