Amid the rubble that is now Lahaina stands one seaside home, left completely untouched by the devastating fires that decimated the town on Maui. The home’s owners — Dudley and Dora Millikin — recently made relatively minor adjustments to the $4 million house that may have been the keys to its preservation. Aerial photos show the red-roofed home with a bright white facade still in seemingly pristine condition against the grey-toned, ashen landscape by which it is surrounded. Dora shared the fact that the house is 100% wood and has no fireproofing. The couple did, however, recently replace the asphalt roof with a heavy-gauge metal one, as well as cutting down on foliage surrounding the home in order to reduce the risk of termites. Dudley said none of the changes were made with the idea of fireproofing the house. What the couple noticed was that when pieces of wood that were on fire would float through the air, they would hit other people’s roofs, immediately igniting the roofs. However, when the burning wood hit the Millikin’s roof, it would simply fall to the ground because of the metal roof. The Millikin's house has since been dubbed “the miracle house.”
