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Elaine Thompson / AP
Flames surround a house, Aug. 14, 2012, on a hillside above Bettas Road near Cle Elum, Wash. Wildland firefighters on-site advised that the house survived the fire.
Elaine Thompson / AP
Surrounded by burnt brush and trees, the house shown above still stands, Aug. 15, after surviving a wildfire a day earlier, near Cle Elum, Wash.
By NBC News and wire services
Firefighters from around Washington state converged Wednesday on a wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes, just one of the blazes being fought across parched western states.
But one house survived.
"The house was saved by defensible space," Bryan Flint, Washington state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, told The Associated Press. "The placement of the driveway and the lack of trees and brush up against the house help prevent the flames from reaching the house."
Where you choose to build your house on your property, what you build it out of and how you protect it will make your home more or less prone to fire risk, Rich Elliott, deputy fire chief, Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue, told NBC News.
“Those three things are 90 percent of the battle,” he said.
“It’s not like in a city,” Elliott said. “Firefighters can’t overwhelm a (wild) fire.”
But they can help deflect flames around defensible homes, he said. About 130 firefighters were in the area Tuesday and he could not be certain if any directly acted to save the house.
Robert Sorbo / Reuters
Blazes in multiple states threaten houses and cause evacuations.
“We look for structures we can reasonably and safely defend,” Elliott said. About 130 firefighters were in the area Tuesday.
Robert Angrisano, Kittitas Valley fire commissioner who was one of the firefighters in the area, told NBC News that the firefighters were not involved in saving the house.
Firefighters in the first 24 hours of a wildlands blaze will pull vegetation away from homes and other structures and may wet down an area or spray foam ahead of approaching flames, Elliott said.
Among points to consider in keeping a home safe is making sure debris isn’t collecting under a wood deck and keeping vegetation away from the home.
Some neighborhoods saw nearly complete destruction during the Taylor Bridge fire, but some are fairly well-planned.
He said Kittitas Valley department recommends the Firewise program.
More than 800 firefighters were expected to help fight the Taylor Bridge fire in Eastern Washington, joined by 145 prison inmates and a couple of National Guard helicopters, according to NBC station KING in Seattle.
As of Wednesday the wind-driven fire had destroyed more than 70 homes and 28,000 acres southeast of Cle Elum, a city 80 miles east of Seattle, in Kittitas County. Continue reading.
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Hey! How did the house survive? Why post the picture and cover a different story?
It's below the grade with nothing but dirt around it. IE the homeowner was smart. Dirt does not burn. Being at the base of that grade also means that the heat from the fire in front went straight up and the heat from the fire behind was drawn up the cline.
Still, that is very amazing! Those fires are so hot and I am surprised that simply the heat of the fire didn't start the house ablaze. Just WOW!
How hot did it get close to the house? Note the flag isn't even burned.
It was a grass fire, not a forest fire. Had that been 40, 60 & 80' pinion pines surrounding it, it would have went up in flames.
I am sure that the fact that this house has a non-combustible roof also was a significant factor. Note also that there is no flammable vegetation near the building. This house also may have tempered windows which are less likely to break if impacted from wind blown debris.
What happened to the big tree just above the house? Where'd it go?
It's below the grade with nothing but dirt around it. IE the homeowner was smart. Dirt does not burn. Being at the base of that grade also means that the heat from the fire in front went straight up and the heat from the fire behind was drawn up the cline.
Yes beefstuinit, except for the 2 huge bushes in front of the house.
Speedbucket,
Um, the tree burned down. Here's your sign!
It is one of Mitt Romney's homes. They did not show pictures of the illegal Mexicans he employed to carry buckets of water from the mountain streams. The call it a spanish sprinkler system..........
@ B from NY: And it totally vaporized? No trace?
I don't think so.
The Big Tree is at the very top edge of the After picture - you can barely make out the shadow from the branches - (just above the green bushes in the burnt area)
re tree
It's still there, just off frame. You can see the clump of bushes that was at its base in both pictures. It is a camera perspective thing.
B from NY
Here is your sign!
@ spudbucket - I'm going to guess it fell (luckily not on the house) and got removed afterwards.
Brokinarrow
I'm going to guess that one picture was taken looking up and from an agle at the house and the other was taken looking down and straight on. Or maybe the fire ferries removed it, you could be right. :)
The house had glass tile roofing, and they also turned on the sprinkler system. Way to go.
Ebeneezer and Mark, I think you're right. Thanks for pointing that out.
Yes - and if you are ever trapped in a fire remember this image - if you have time, burn an area around you so the fire has no fuel by the time it gets to you. (also, fire moves uphill)
It made it unscathed through the forest fire, but will it survive the stormwaters bound to rush through now that the vegetation is gone?
Obviously, It was God's protection.
PLEASE NOTE: nearly perfect lines on the front and left sides. I suggest water sprinklers. Some homeowners have been getting their immediate surrounds as wet as possible.
No, that's tin (or rather, sheet metal). Either way, not flammable.
Spudbucket... the tree is still there. The after photo is of a slightly different angle than the during picture. The base of the tree is just slightly left of the dormer and up the hill.
Crested Wheat grass is known to be protect from fires like this. Lucky to not have had the power shut off rendering the sprinklers ineffective. An emergency cistern (pond) with a gas pump to a roof mounted sprinkler sys will be what I am planning to do when I build my mountain home in a couple of years. Lots of rock siding and metal roofing will be used too.
And, the wheat grass will provide a root sys to protect from water erosion too.
This is exactly what happened to our house, last labor day. For those interested, look up bastrop fire complex. Everything around me burned, 1700 houses. My horse stables and arena are gone, but the house stood. Someone was watching out for us.
The one big thing here was that it was not in the woods but what appears to be a large clear/open area. One of the most important things you can do is keep as much large vegetation away from the house as possible and use native plants. The grass burns quick and hot as the is not alot of fuel to keep it going so it will move by rather quickly, not turn the area into an oven like with a full on forest fire. Though this is compromise for those who want to live in a wooded setting, even then still thinning out the trees in the area will help. Next most important thing are the materials it is made from and most obvious here is the metal roof. Very important for protection against a fire, roof is often first to go due to falling embers. Next having an emergency water source is key, like a pond or cistern and wet the area down. You can tell its clear they watered the area around the house due to the clean burn lines. Then in this case sitting into the side of the hill likely helped to and the overall layout of this house was easy to defend. Other good things to use when building are rock, brick, and concrete siding, and even other materials like ICF's and make the whole house structure fire proof. Yes costs are involved and you have to weigh all the options but there are simple, cheap, things one can do when living in areas like this to help protect against a forest fire threat and try to give you some better odds of your house making it.
BTW the tree is still there, at top middle of after picture.
It is time
Wow!
Whoever lives in that house must have several lifetimes of good karma built up.
I think they've figured out the correect god. ;)
Well who was it, who got it right?
Mormon, Mormon was the correct answer
Some of those burn marks look like noodly appendages. This is definitive proof in the existence of a higher being. I think it proves that FSM is real. Those who have not converted to Pastafarianism - repent today and join the movement.
Arrrrr!
Yeah okay. I'm convinced that FSM will protect my house from fire. But will he deflect bullets for me like Jesus does?
The FSM will delegate that job to the pirates.
Only if you shoot first ask questions later... according to the 2st book NRA verse #10.
ha!
Snikt: Nice South Park reference.
Oh Wow.... How very lucky can you be..... Good for them.
We'll see how "lucky" they feel when the rains come.
And have to replace the carpet, drywall, appliances, all the furniture, and most likely every piece of clothing... and everything else... due to smoke. My guess is they will never be able to clean up from that. Might be a better idea to take the losses, use the insurance money and build elsewhere on their land.
Metal roof will improve your chances that your home will survive a wildfire. If it had a shake roof it would never had survived
correctomente. Plus it wasn't a forest. Grass fires - although bad aren't nearly as hot as a forest burning. This is why they want the owners to clear out 50 ft to 100 ft from the house and allow only grass low shrubs in close to the house.
Key West changed its roofs to metal because of fires way back in the day. If I lived in Cali or the forest I would make sure I had one to.
Where did the big A$$ tree right behind the house go??? Not even a burnt out stump on the ground!!!
Joker69-Sactown we had 60+ foot pines burned down into the ground. BIG holes where the roots once were.
As someone who lives in a fire zone I can tell you the house is no good, anymore. There may some salvageable items. The smell of smoke will not depart in their lifetime.
nothing a little fabreeze can't fix :)
Reminds me of some family friends after a forest fire in Wrightwood several years ago. They had their insurance company completely replace every piece of furniture, every drapery, the furniture, the carpet, and the TILE because of fire that was no closer to their house than it was to hundreds of others in the neighborhood. Pretty pathetic really.
I live 5 miles southeast of the fire in Ellensburg, and I can tell you the smoke we've been breathing the last three days has been horrible. We're not even in the official fire zone, and I think our house will have a permanent smoke smell to it.
Camino1 - True! Thank you, this is what I've been trying to let people know. A building burnt down many years ago that I had personal items in it and I was able to experience that at close hand.
DevAvo - We are down in the Tri-Cities and it's bad here. I can't imagine what it's like for you all being that close. *cough* *hack* Even our outside dogs have been spending indoors.
I feel for the people whose houses were not so lucky...
Surrounded by scrub and not tall pines? Metal roof?
It survived because it had a metal roof. If it had a shke roof it would not be standing today
Jesus didn't do it, a smart or lucky architect did. It's below the grade with nothing but dirt around it. IE the homeowner was smart. Dirt does not burn. Being at the base of that grade also means that the heat from the fire in front went straight up and the heat from the fire behind was drawn up the incline.
The architect didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.
The architect didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.
TRUE the architect DIDNT build that, THE BUILDERS DID
The fools say there is no God.
according to obammy it was not the intelligence of the architect, nor the skill of the builder.......it is the government who will take the credit for the final positive outcome. lol.
that is right and that architect should get lots of business for any rebuilding projects there .
"The fools say there is no God."
So what you are saying is that god did not care for the others whos homes burned? What a *mean* god you have there.
according to obammy it was not the intelligence of the architect, nor the skill of the builder.......it is the government who will take the credit for the final positive outcome. lol.
ANOTHER DUMB SHEEPLE
SO 1stcav IF you really served, Ill bet because your GOP sheep herder masters didnt tell you that thanks to Obama, there was MORE money given to the VA than had been given in the LAST 30 YEARS
So the next time you go to the VA for your Meds, thank Obama for them
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/04/30/veterans-salute-president-obama-on-funding-for-va/
1st Cav: It WAS the government, i.e.: the firefighters! What a dope! And his name is PRESIDENT Obama.
Give it a rest, this has nothing to do with politics.
Physics at work. Love it!
Wow, they were lucky. I'm in a fire area, and always wonder what to do. No one wants their house to not have trees around it, my trees provide a lot of nice shade from the hot summer sun. But that's not good for the fire danger. I guess the best thing is to keep things cut back away from the house the best I can.
i don't see why can not grow trees close to house, and chop it off if there is fire. just make sure you have a good powerful chainsaw.
Some houses are on hills in such a way that you cannot cut the trees because the roots prevent mud slides. If the forest fire doesn't get ya, the rain and gravity will.
The bottom line is that some people build houses in places they shouldn't. This house wasn't one of them, but tons of homeowners in CA and other states are just asking for trouble.
If you type Bettas Rd, Cle Elum, WA into Google Maps, it pretty much centers you right on top of this house. The home is surrounded by concrete drive way.
Just for starters that house is a completely different shape of roofline than the one you reference in Google maps. Not to mention the difference in the surrounding landscape, lack of the long concrete retention wall on the right side, and complete lack of the second story deck.
It's about 2000 ft northwest of that spot.
Drak-2293142
That's not the house but if you follow the road that leads to the left, you'll find the house in question.
We were evacuated in the Spicewood fires last year. When we were allowed to return, yes, it smelled like a hundred people had enjoyed a cigar party in our home, but the smell did go away.
I've learned that you need at least a 30-ft "defensible area" around your home. If you look at many of the Colorado homes that were lost, you'll see that many of them were nestled in trees. Pretty, but just a horrible idea fire-wise. We're taking out all the cedars within a certain radius of our home. They're like lighting vats of turpentine when they catch on fire.
There are plenty of homes around here that had fire come to within ten feet of the house. You can bet we are all implementing a lot more precautions. Keep your rain gutters cleaned out. Don't let trees hang over your roof. Cut out ladder fuel---those shrubs, for example, that will catch the trees above them on fire. When we have to replace our roof, it will be metal.
I'm guessing they sprayed some of those fire retardant gel thingy.... That thing does work, except that not everybody could spare the time and effort to apply it to your house when all you worry about is to flee to safety.
Exactly... fire doesn't stop in a straight line the exact distance all the way around a home unless the owners applied as much of a flame-proof area as possible. They must know they live in an area that has these fires, they probably have chemicals sprays stockpiled in their basement or garage ready for just this type of emergency... why fire "stopped" right at easilly flammable bushes is a hint and a half at that.
Great construction....However.......watch out for that predictable mud slide this early spring. Mother Nature can be one brutal woman.
There is nothing about the house in the article. Ridiculous journalism.
What exactly would you like to know? Number of bedrooms, baths? Assessed valuation? Property taxes?
What difference does it make?
The pictures tells all you need to know about the house. The fire was the story.
this house stands there as if underwater. (mortgage term not intended)
I live on an island. Came home few nights ago and could not see my house for smoke. A grass fire was burning a few acres of land between my house and the sea.
The house was full of smoke because the louvres had been left open. The bedrooms were smoky that night but after a good mopping and wiping of walls etc, we had no problem except some occasional ash if the wind blew too high.
their house will be fine with some LYsol spray.
There's burnable grass and foliage right next to the charred areas... why that didn't burn and it just happened to leave a perfect line of unburned foliage says one of two things, either A. the photo was Photoshopped or B. The owners put down some type of Flame-proof barrier in the form of chemicals or foam spray to protect the house.
Survived the fire.....only to get hit with the forthcoming MUD SLIDE coming next spring. Mother Nature can be a real brute.
We must have been thinking the same thing... : - )
We have very little rain here - that is not likely to happen. We are not like the wilderness areas in California or Colorado... it is a very sandy soil and the water quickly disperses and is out and gone.
It may have survived the fire but it won’t survive the mud slide if they get heavy rains in the next month and a half. The grass and trees is what was keeping the dirt from sliding down the hillside.
It may appear that they were smart building below the grade with nothing but dirt around it. However, now it is at the bottom of a sandy, dirty, hill with nothing to hold all that dirt up. Next time we see this house, it might be buried in mud. I wouldn't allow my family to stay in it like that...
That's a nice looking house.
Everything in the house must stink though! It's hard to get that smell out.
Some of those burn marks look like noodly appendages. This is definitive proof in the existence of a higher being. I think it proves that FSM is real. Those who have not converted to Pastafarianism - repent today and join the movement.
Arrrrr!