How One House Survives When 1000's around it Burn

[Weedygarden]

Fire is certainly not the only thing that can get us, but have you seen the stories of all the houses in neighborhoods that burn, except for one? Following is one story that someone posted.

"As we all watch the destruction caused by the California fires, our hearts and prayers are with all those affected, and the heroic 1st responders.
There is 1 family's example of being prepared that we all might learn from:
It was reported that 2000 homes were destroyed in 1 area. However, there was 1 (ONLY 1) home in the middle of all the destroyed homes that is still standing! It only needs a paint job to bring it back to what it was prior to the fires engulfing it.
How can that be?
According to the firefighter interviewed, this home was made of rammed earth. Their roof was made of steel beams and fireproof tiles. There was a sprinkler system on top of the roof.
The water for it was pumped from their basement rainwater catchment tank, using a generator to power the pump.
This family of 4 children from 14 to 20 and their parents, STAYED in their basement safe area while their house was engulfed by the raging fire, and operated an air purification system manually. "

 

[LadyLocust]

Good for them! I was just watching a clip (maybe yesterday) about historic construction vs modern construction. It’s not surprising newer homes shatter.

 

[Supervisor42]

Fire is certainly not the only thing that can get us, but have you seen the stories of all the houses in neighborhoods that burn, except for one? Following is one story that someone posted.

"As we all watch the destruction caused by the California fires, our hearts and prayers are with all those affected, and the heroic 1st responders.
There is 1 family's example of being prepared that we all might learn from:
It was reported that 2000 homes were destroyed in 1 area. However, there was 1 (ONLY 1) home in the middle of all the destroyed homes that is still standing! It only needs a paint job to bring it back to what it was prior to the fires engulfing it.
How can that be?
According to the firefighter interviewed, this home was made of rammed earth. Their roof was made of steel beams and fireproof tiles. There was a sprinkler system on top of the roof.
The water for it was pumped from their basement rainwater catchment tank, using a generator to power the pump.
This family of 4 children from 14 to 20 and their parents, STAYED in their basement safe area while their house was engulfed by the raging fire, and operated an air purification system manually. "

Hard to believe there is still a smart person out there, (besides Havasu ).
I'd bet it was built like this one:

This one is from the 1993 fire.

 

[Steve_In_29]

While construction "can" make a difference, even a rammed earth house can go up if the heat from nearby structures breaks a window.

Also it is really just luck of the draw in most cases. I saw a picture from the Palisades fire where a single trailer was still standing amidst a burned out trailer park.

 

[Weedygarden]

While construction "can" make a difference, even a rammed earth house can go up if the heat from nearby structures breaks a window.

Also it is really just luck of the draw in most cases. I saw a picture from the Palisades fire where a single trailer was still standing amidst a burned out trailer park.

I don't even know what rammed earth is, but I am going to do some research and maybe start a thread about it.

 

[Steve_In_29]

I don't even know what rammed earth is, but I am going to do some research and maybe start a thread about it.

Short answer...building with dirt.

 

[LadyLocust]

 

[Robert Stewart]

It does happen quite a lot during major bushfires here in Australia you'll find that fire behavior is a funny thing it will nuke a whole row of houses leaving others untouched or slightly singed from flame heat a classic example is from Black Saturday 2009 at Kinglake in Victoria whilst the whole town was practically wiped off the map only building standing was its pub because of proactive defense by community residents and publican

 

[Steve_In_29]

It does happen quite a lot during major bushfires here in Australia you'll find that fire behavior is a funny thing it will nuke a whole row of houses leaving others untouched or slightly singed from flame heat a classic example is from Black Saturday 2009 at Kinglake in Victoria whilst the whole town was practically wiped off the map only building standing was its pub because of proactive defense by community residents and publican

Well that can hardly be attributed to luck of the draw.

 

[UserNameTaken]

Yeah, I just mentioned wanting to build a earth berm home.

When I was in the Laguna Beach fire in '93 in an area called Top of the World (basically a steep ridgeline) one house survived. The slope was cleared below the house, down about 100 ft, it was tile roof, stucco, no vegetation right next to the house. Not sure I remember this right, but I think they also had a fire truck to protect it as it was a (the only) defendable space.

Many homes were cantilevered on pilings on the hillside. Great views! The fire just ran right up under them and, poof!

 

[Peanut]

When I was in the Laguna Beach fire in '93

Didn't remember it, had to look it up... oct of 93. I had just switched companys, took a new job in west virginia. After 3yrs in LA I left in July and was so happy to be out of that cesspit!
-----------
Don't get fires here but see this sort of things with tornadoes often. They will wipe out a neighborhood but skip one house for no apparent reason.

 

[Magus]

Fire is certainly not the only thing that can get us, but have you seen the stories of all the houses in neighborhoods that burn, except for one? Following is one story that someone posted.

"As we all watch the destruction caused by the California fires, our hearts and prayers are with all those affected, and the heroic 1st responders.
There is 1 family's example of being prepared that we all might learn from:
It was reported that 2000 homes were destroyed in 1 area. However, there was 1 (ONLY 1) home in the middle of all the destroyed homes that is still standing! It only needs a paint job to bring it back to what it was prior to the fires engulfing it.
How can that be?
According to the firefighter interviewed, this home was made of rammed earth. Their roof was made of steel beams and fireproof tiles. There was a sprinkler system on top of the roof.
The water for it was pumped from their basement rainwater catchment tank, using a generator to power the pump.
This family of 4 children from 14 to 20 and their parents, STAYED in their basement safe area while their house was engulfed by the raging fire, and operated an air purification system manually. "

Ten bucks says they try to charge them with some kind of crime like water hoarding.

 

[Robert Stewart]

Well that can hardly be attributed to luck of the draw.

Proactive defense does sometimes attribute luck of the draw others its merely a matter of how a fire behaves another example comes from the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 this was initially fanned along by gale force Northwesterlies much likened to what is currently happening over in California with the Santa Ana winds

However just after 16:00 hours on that day winds swung from Northwest to Southwest amplifying not only intensity but forward speed and rate of spread resulting in the what was known as the Kangaroo Inn fire threatening my hometown of Kalangadoo with spot fires but ultimately burnt around it decimating farm land and pine forests near Nangwarry and Tarpeena

 

[Caribou]

I remember a fire many years ago. I think it was in the SF Bay area, but it was a long time ago. Hundreds of homes burned but one white house survived. there was one white house on a black hillside. The owner was an architect. He designed the home with a noncombustible exterior and painted it white to reflect the heat. He may have used a nonflammable paint, it was a long time ago. The yard was designed to keep the fire away from the house. The house was built on the edge of a steep slope, almost a cliff. the hillside was planted with Iceplant to prevent a fire from running up the slope.

My grandparents used Iceplant to protect their cinder block home that was painted white. I was living there one winter when a wildfire came and stopped at the road behind the house. It was exciting.

 

[Morgan101]

Fire is certainly not the only thing that can get us, but have you seen the stories of all the houses in neighborhoods that burn, except for one?

I saw that on the news. It was shocking. Everything around it is rubble, and one house is completely untouched. Like that house in Alabama (?) I think that was untouched by a hurricane. Acres around it were leveled, and one house was untouched. IMHO their next stop should be to a church.

 

[teeceetx]

So ... you have the only house that was not burned ... for the next 5 years, you will be living in a construction zone, with all the noise, dust, and congestion.

 

[Cabin Fever]

Hard to believe there is still a smart person out there, (besides Havasu ).
I'd bet it was built like this one:

This one is from the 1993 fire.

Yeah, but who would want to live there? It's market value must have been reduced tremendously even though it survived.

 

[teeceetx]

And watch, as multi-family and apartment buildings replace the single family homes.

No, these neighborhoods will never be restored to their original condition.

These wealthy liberal homeowners will NOT want to move back ... they will likely leave the state and bring their failed policies with them.

 

[UserNameTaken]

Yeah, but who would want to live there? It's market value must have been reduced tremendously even though it survived.

Yeah, that's the house I was talking about. That's an OC Register photo, I forget who took it. We published a book on the fire. I was there during the fire, with everything burning around me - I have hundereds of pictures. We were still using slide film back then, so they aren't digitized. Most are kind of boring, just burning houses, no people or emotion, but I thought it was important to document it. (It wasn't... sigh.)

For some reason I was thinking it was on the top row, but I was so many places that day. I didn't remember the vegetation.

I guess I missed Supervisor42's post.

 

[Hooch]

Fire is certainly not the only thing that can get us, but have you seen the stories of all the houses in neighborhoods that burn, except for one? Following is one story that someone posted.

"As we all watch the destruction caused by the California fires, our hearts and prayers are with all those affected, and the heroic 1st responders.
There is 1 family's example of being prepared that we all might learn from:
It was reported that 2000 homes were destroyed in 1 area. However, there was 1 (ONLY 1) home in the middle of all the destroyed homes that is still standing! It only needs a paint job to bring it back to what it was prior to the fires engulfing it.
How can that be?
According to the firefighter interviewed, this home was made of rammed earth. Their roof was made of steel beams and fireproof tiles. There was a sprinkler system on top of the roof.
The water for it was pumped from their basement rainwater catchment tank, using a generator to power the pump.
This family of 4 children from 14 to 20 and their parents, STAYED in their basement safe area while their house was engulfed by the raging fire, and operated an air purification system manually. "

That's awesome..

 

[Steve_In_29]

Yeah, but who would want to live there? It's market value must have been reduced tremendously even though it survived.

If the area is still in demand and being rebuilt, the house didn't drop in value very much, if at all.

 

[Haertig]

There was just an article in our newspaper about our "Marshall Fire" a few years ago. The houses that did survive were reported to have continuing smoke smell inside. And not good wood smoke, the toxic "modern components burning" kind of sickening smell. And families were reporting long term illnesses lasting for years - although that seems to be improving now, a couple of years after the fire. And since their properties were not technically "damaged by the fire", they got no insurance money to help them with the cleanup, de-smokification, etc.

Being the sole surviving house of a mass decimation out in the middle of nowhere is probably a good thing. Or at least it could potentially be that. But in an urban or suburban environment, I think it would probably be a bad thing. It would also depend on your financial situation. If you had no savings to speak of, no way to pay for recovery, maybe not even any insurance on your property, sure - being the sole surviving household would be a bonus. But given a better financial situation coming into it, I'm not sure being the sole survivor would be your best outcome.

 

[Weedygarden]

I would think, that the thing to do with all of this land being freed up from homes, would be to create a code for new builds replacing these burned homes. The code would include rain water catchment for each home. Gutters run from the roof to a catchment tank. Tank would be preferred to be buried, either in the yard or in the basement. No water from yards where there is contamination from herbicides and other toxins. There are homes in various parts of the world that use water catchment for home use.

Of all the homes that I have been in in Southern California, not one has a basement. They are all built on slabs. I wonder how many homes percentage wise in the L.A. area have basements?

This would be a great time for southern California to improve some of their infrastructure, especially relative to water collection.

Between earthquakes, now fires, and the other political goings on, I would want to get the heck out of California if I lived there.

 

[Hardcalibres]

I would think, that the thing to do with all of this land being freed up from homes, would be to create a code for new builds replacing these burned homes. The code would include rain water catchment for each home. Gutters run from the roof to a catchment tank. Tank would be preferred to be buried, either in the yard or in the basement. No water from yards where there is contamination from herbicides and other toxins. There are homes in various parts of the world that use water catchment for home use.

Of all the homes that I have been in in Southern California, not one has a basement. They are all built on slabs. I wonder how many homes percentage wise in the L.A. area have basements?

This would be a great time for southern California to improve some of their infrastructure, especially relative to water collection.

Between earthquakes, now fires, and the other political goings on, I would want to get the heck out of California if I lived there.

Correct.

There are many lessons to learn that could be applied when rebuilding.

Those suburbs are now a "blank canvas".

Attention should also be paid to how natural fuel is managed.

Most eco warriors will want the re-established vegetation to be 100% native/natural.......but if people are going to live there in the future, they should really consider a plant species mix that is more fire retardant.

There are usually natives that are like that, but to make those dominant, will require intervention/management.

 

[elkhound]

Correct.

There are many lessons to learn that could be applied when rebuilding.

Those suburbs are now a "blank canvas".

Attention should also be paid to how natural fuel is managed.

Most eco warriors will want the re-established vegetation to be 100% native/natural.......but if people are going to live there in the future, they should really consider a plant species mix that is more fire retardant.

There are usually natives that are like that, but to make those dominant, will require intervention/management.

not really blank...property boundaries still in effect...underground utilities didnt burn...like water and sewer....soooo...rebuild it is....or condemn some places and take property to reroute stuff....they aint doing that..its cram as many as possible in a spot to live.

 

[Haertig]

I would think, that the thing to do with all of this land being freed up from homes, would be to create a code for new builds replacing these burned homes.

That's what they did after the Marshall fire. They created so many new codes and requirements that people could not afford to rebuild their homes. Because homes are insured on what they are worth, not what it would take to make them meet new codes upon reconstruction. Some of the towns in the Marshall Fire area eventually gave a temporary reprieve for some of the new codes due to public outcry.

We had several friends that lost their homes in that fire. Yes, they were rich friends. With houses costing over 5 million. That sounds like a lot, but remember that the Boulder, Colorado area is a lot like L.A. and those other way overpriced markets. Our friends did have to meet the new codes (they weren't poor enough to be exempt). Out of their own pockets. Their home had to meet "net zero" electricity use. That mean tons of solar panels. Our closest friends were forced to drill down God knows how deep into the earth to make use of thermals down there. The have to pump all their water and heating liquids down there so they can "pre-heat" so once they are pumped up to the surface again they are not so cold and can be heated using less energy. this was not optional. It was mandatory. Of course all this pumping requires energy, which they are required to produce, not buy, so that means even more solar panels. The entire house had to be sprinklered like a commercial building. They were forced to put in charging stations in their garage for electric vehicles. Never mind that they don't own any of those. More solar panels were required to power that. Solid fire doors were required throughout the house. Only very specific, and expensive, materials could be used for construction.

While some of this stuff may be groundbreaking and ultimately good, it ain't cheap. And insurance didn't pay for it because it was not in the original house that burned down. And they were not allowed to rebuild their house, on their own property, until they paid out of pocket for all these "improvements". This, after having to buy all new furniture, cars and other belongings due to the wildfire.

Yes, they did it. Because, well, they both have high paying jobs and were smart enough to financially prepare for retirement and also unforeseen disasters. But being financially responsible and having good jobs is not a justification for the government to punish them like this after having just lost everything in a fire. Many people simply could not afford to rebuild at the new, higher costs the new codes and regulations forced on them. They had to abandon of sell at a loss their burned out properties.

 

[Hardcalibres]

not really blank...property boundaries still in effect...underground utilities didnt burn...like water and sewer....soooo...rebuild it is....or condemn some places and take property to reroute stuff....they aint doing that..its cram as many as possible in a spot to live.

Yep....again....it will mostly be about the money.

 

[Hardcalibres]

That's what they did after the Marshall fire. They created so many new codes and requirements that people could not afford to rebuild their homes. Because homes are insured on what they are worth, not what it would take to make them meet new codes upon reconstruction. Some of the towns in the Marshall Fire area eventually gave a temporary reprieve for some of the new codes due to public outcry.

We had several friends that lost their homes in that fire. Yes, they were rich friends. With houses costing over 5 million. That sounds like a lot, but remember that the Boulder, Colorado area is a lot like L.A. and those other way overpriced markets. Our friends did have to meet the new codes (they weren't poor enough to be exempt). Out of their own pockets. Their home had to meet "net zero" electricity use. That mean tons of solar panels. Our closest friends were forced to drill down God knows how deep into the earth to make use of thermals down there. The have to pump all their water and heating liquids down there so they can "pre-heat" so once they are pumped up to the surface again they are not so cold and can be heated using less energy. this was not optional. It was mandatory. Of course all this pumping requires energy, which they are required to produce, not buy, so that means even more solar panels. The entire house had to be sprinklered like a commercial building. They were forced to put in charging stations in their garage for electric vehicles. Never mind that they don't own any of those. More solar panels were required to power that. Solid fire doors were required throughout the house. Only very specific, and expensive, materials could be used for construction.

While some of this stuff may be groundbreaking and ultimately good, it ain't cheap. And insurance didn't pay for it because it was not in the original house that burned down. And they were not allowed to rebuild their house, on their own property, until they paid out of pocket for all these "improvements". This, after having to buy all new furniture, cars and other belongings due to the wildfire.

Yes, they did it. Because, well, they both have high paying jobs and were smart enough to financially prepare for retirement and also unforeseen disasters. But being financially responsible and having good jobs is not a justification for the government to punish them like this after having just lost everything in a fire. Many people simply could not afford to rebuild at the new, higher costs the new codes and regulations forced on them. They had to abandon of sell at a loss their burned out properties.

Sounds like they would have been better off if their house didn't burn down.