House surrounded by burned-down homes miraculously survived Maui wildfires

A single home on a block bordering the ocean in West Maui miraculously survived the wildfires that destroyed the resort city of Lahaina.

The two-story house appears unharmed with white walls and a red roof, standing in stark contrast with the nightmarish sight of the ashes and charred foundations that remain of the neighboring homes.

Even some of the foliage around the surviving home appears to have made it through the blaze, much to the bewilderment of those on social media who dubbed it “The Red House That Survived Hawaii Wild Fires.”

The sight was similar to the Maria Lanakila Catholic Church, a historic building in Lahaina that also appeared unscathed by the fires that killed at least 106 people.

Along with the red house and church, aerial footage from local KITV shows that a few more buildings were spared, with the houses standing amid the eerie hellscape.

While the exact reason these buildings survived remains unknown, the way they were constructed likely played a key role.

Pattie Tamura, whose family owns one of the few Lahaina houses that remain standing, credited its survival to its thick concrete walls, which don’t burn.

Tamura, 67, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the house was built by her grandfather, who worked at a nearby sugar mill, with the exact purpose of enduring anything so he could enjoy his retirement in the 1950s.

“He built the house out of cement because of the bugs and dry rot in Hawaii,” she said. “I’m sure it survived because of his knowledge and his construction skills.”

She noted that the concrete walls in the home are so thick, they could even drown out the sounds of the roaring ocean outside.

While Tamura admitted that her family’s home always appeared out of place given that houses in the city were primarily made of wood, she says her family is now thankful for her grandfather’s foresight.

Concrete, brick and stone appear to be among the key factors for homes to survive such devastating fires, which was previously seen in the 2018 Camp Fire, which was the deadliest blaze in more than 100 years until Maui.

The California blaze killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 homes, yet some houses miraculously survived while neighboring properties burned to the ground.

Kent Yonker, the director of Building Fire Safe California, told KRCR that many of the homes that survived the Camp Fire did so thanks to concrete.

While she is glad her family’s home survived, Tamura said she’s not eager to visit the house and her cousin’s family, who currently own it, anytime soon.

“It will be devastating to see the town again,” she told the Chronicle. “It will hurt.”