The Only 'Red Roof House' That Escaped the Hawaii Wildfire... Is the Roof the Secret?

Wooden House Over 100 Years Old
Recently Renovated with $4 Million Investment

A single house with a red roof has become a topic of interest as the worst wildfire on Maui Island, USA, turned the entire island into ashes.

On the 21st (local time), the American daily LA Times and the British BBC reported on why this house on Front Street in Lahaina, the main area affected by the wildfire, was able to survive amidst the ashes.

The worst wildfire in Maui Island, USA, has turned the entire island into ashes, but one house with a red roof remains intact, drawing attention.
[Photo by BBC website capture]

This house is a wooden structure over 100 years old, but it was able to avoid the fire due to recent renovations. The homeowners, Mr. Atwater Millikin and his wife, explained, "We are not exactly sure what saved our house, but it seems that because the house was very old, we spent 4 million dollars on renovations, which helped us avoid the fire."

Although the house is wooden, the roof was replaced with metal material, and stone walls were built around the house. They also removed all small trees around the stone walls to make the walls visible. Mr. Millikin said, "It was not intended to prevent fire; it was simply part of renovating the old house."

Experts analyzed that removing trees around the stone walls and replacing the roof with metal helped avoid the fire. In particular, changing the roof to metal material was considered effective.

Mr. Millikin was traveling in Massachusetts, USA, at the time of the fire. The couple said, "We cried a lot when we heard that the entire town was engulfed in flames and likely to be completely destroyed," adding, "We were surprised that the next morning, while the whole town had burned down, only our house remained intact."

Meanwhile, since the wildfire struck the Lahaina area on the west coast of Maui Island, Hawaii, on the 8th, the death toll has reached 114. The number of missing persons is estimated to be as high as 1,300.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.