The New Yorker:

Scientists have identified more than fifty ways that houses can ignite. It’s possible to defend against all of them—but it’s arduous, and homeowners can’t do it alone.

By Ingfei Chen

In June, 2012, hundreds of homes in Mountain Shadows, Colorado, a subdivision in the foothills of the Rockies, were reduced to ash during the wind-whipped Waldo Canyon Fire. On a cul-de-sac called Hot Springs Court, however, four dwellings somehow remained standing. The mystery of their survival nagged at Alex Maranghides, a fire-protection engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (nist), who worked with several colleagues on a meticulous reconstruction of the fire. How did the homes make it through? Was there something special about them—a fireproof roof, say, or a fancy sprinkler system?

The team collected weather reports, topographic data, G.P.S. records from fire engines, photos, videos, and property-damage reports. They debriefed more than two hundred witnesses, mostly first responders. After a hundred and fifty “technical discussions,” Maranghides finally met two firefighters from Northern California who were able to explain the miracle at Hot Springs Court. Their crew had parked their fire truck there and, for an entire night, had hosed down the four houses. (A fortuitous change in the wind helped, too.)

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