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Re: Drug free white owner of viral red house thinks this is why it survived Maui wildfires that turned everything else to ash
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Green
Aug 21, 2023, 10:37:41 PM8/21/23
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On 19 Aug 2023, Ubiquitious Ron <now...@protonmail.com> posted some
news:ubqac4$pjci$7...@dont-email.me:
> These people acted like responsible property owners, did not ascribe
> to woke "SAVE THE PLANET!" bullshit, by cutting down weeds and
> unnecessary brush. They cleaned up their homes and did not live in
> shitty shacks like the drug dealers in the neighborhood.
The owner of a red-roofed house in Maui that went viral for remaining
untouched by the historic wildfires has explained the small, unexpected
details that she thinks helped it survive in a neighborhood otherwise
reduced to ash.
Stunning aerial images of the unscathed property went viral last week —
while also sparking bonkers conspiracies that the local devastation was
a targeted laser attack from space.
However, owner Dora Atwater Millikin put it down to a handful of routine
changes during a recent renovation — none of which were aimed at
surviving such a disaster.
“It’s a 100% wood house so it’s not like we fireproofed it or anything,”
the landscape painter told the Los Angeles Times.
Atwater Millikin said that she and her husband, Dudley, a retired
portfolio manager, did not have wildfires in mind when they renovated
the 100-year-old former bookkeeper’s house that they’ve owned for three
years.
“We love old buildings, so we just wanted to honor the building,” said
Atwater Millikin. “And we didn’t change the building in any way — we
just restored it.”
One decision that may have unknowingly helped it survive the wildfire —
the deadliest in the US in more than a century — was replacing the
asphalt roof with one made out of heavy-gauge metal, she told the LA
paper.
She was told that during the fire, “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,” she told the LA Times.
“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.”
There, too, they also unknowingly improved the property’s odds of
survival, having lined the ground with stones up to the drip line of the
roof, and cut down foliage that was up against the outside walls.
While it was implemented to keep out termites, not protect against
fires, it almost perfectly fit guidance given by experts, according to
Susie Kocher, a forestry adviser for the University of California
Cooperative Extension who co-authored a guide on how to harden homes
against wildfires.
“If shrubs and bushes, especially flammable ones, are right up next to
the house and embers catch them on fire, the heat can burst the window
and it goes right into the home from there,” Kocher told the LA Times.
The red-roofed house may also have benefited from not being too close to
neighboring properties — often the main fuel for fires — instead being
bordered on three sides by the ocean, a road and an empty lot.
While the house had sprinklers, so did most of the neighbors’
properties, and the system wasn’t working when needed because the power
was out, Atwater Millikin said. However, any combustibles were largely
removed from the under-deck area, which also faced the ocean.
Kocher said the house had many of the qualities that would help it
survive such disasters.
“People generally think that it’s a big wall of flames that is catching
houses on fire, but often the mechanism is embers,” she said.
“So embers are coming from the flaming front, which could be some
distance away.”
That mistaken belief also creates wild unfounded rumors about why some
areas remain undamaged while all around is razed, she said.
“I think conspiracy theories can flourish when we don’t understand how
things happen,” Kocher said.
Atwater Millikin and her husband plan to return to Maui soon and open
their place to neighbors who were left homeless.
“We lost neighbors in this, and neighbors lost everything,” Atwater
Millikin told the California paper.
“So many people have lost everything, and we need to look out for each
other and rebuild. Everybody needs to help rebuild.”
https://nypost.com/2023/08/21/owner-of-mauis-unscathed-red-house-explains
-why-it-survived/
news:ubqac4$pjci$7...@dont-email.me:
> These people acted like responsible property owners, did not ascribe
> to woke "SAVE THE PLANET!" bullshit, by cutting down weeds and
> unnecessary brush. They cleaned up their homes and did not live in
> shitty shacks like the drug dealers in the neighborhood.
The owner of a red-roofed house in Maui that went viral for remaining
untouched by the historic wildfires has explained the small, unexpected
details that she thinks helped it survive in a neighborhood otherwise
reduced to ash.
Stunning aerial images of the unscathed property went viral last week —
while also sparking bonkers conspiracies that the local devastation was
a targeted laser attack from space.
However, owner Dora Atwater Millikin put it down to a handful of routine
changes during a recent renovation — none of which were aimed at
surviving such a disaster.
“It’s a 100% wood house so it’s not like we fireproofed it or anything,”
the landscape painter told the Los Angeles Times.
Atwater Millikin said that she and her husband, Dudley, a retired
portfolio manager, did not have wildfires in mind when they renovated
the 100-year-old former bookkeeper’s house that they’ve owned for three
years.
“We love old buildings, so we just wanted to honor the building,” said
Atwater Millikin. “And we didn’t change the building in any way — we
just restored it.”
One decision that may have unknowingly helped it survive the wildfire —
the deadliest in the US in more than a century — was replacing the
asphalt roof with one made out of heavy-gauge metal, she told the LA
paper.
She was told that during the fire, “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,” she told the LA Times.
“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.”
There, too, they also unknowingly improved the property’s odds of
survival, having lined the ground with stones up to the drip line of the
roof, and cut down foliage that was up against the outside walls.
While it was implemented to keep out termites, not protect against
fires, it almost perfectly fit guidance given by experts, according to
Susie Kocher, a forestry adviser for the University of California
Cooperative Extension who co-authored a guide on how to harden homes
against wildfires.
“If shrubs and bushes, especially flammable ones, are right up next to
the house and embers catch them on fire, the heat can burst the window
and it goes right into the home from there,” Kocher told the LA Times.
The red-roofed house may also have benefited from not being too close to
neighboring properties — often the main fuel for fires — instead being
bordered on three sides by the ocean, a road and an empty lot.
While the house had sprinklers, so did most of the neighbors’
properties, and the system wasn’t working when needed because the power
was out, Atwater Millikin said. However, any combustibles were largely
removed from the under-deck area, which also faced the ocean.
Kocher said the house had many of the qualities that would help it
survive such disasters.
“People generally think that it’s a big wall of flames that is catching
houses on fire, but often the mechanism is embers,” she said.
“So embers are coming from the flaming front, which could be some
distance away.”
That mistaken belief also creates wild unfounded rumors about why some
areas remain undamaged while all around is razed, she said.
“I think conspiracy theories can flourish when we don’t understand how
things happen,” Kocher said.
Atwater Millikin and her husband plan to return to Maui soon and open
their place to neighbors who were left homeless.
“We lost neighbors in this, and neighbors lost everything,” Atwater
Millikin told the California paper.
“So many people have lost everything, and we need to look out for each
other and rebuild. Everybody needs to help rebuild.”
https://nypost.com/2023/08/21/owner-of-mauis-unscathed-red-house-explains
-why-it-survived/
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