Owner of Lahaina 'miracle house' that was only one spared by devastating Maui wildfire shares secrets of how the $4M property survived
Dora Atwater Millikin and her husband Dudley Long Millikin III own the $4million seaside Lahaina home that was left unscathed in the Maui wildfires
The pristine white house with a red roof stands alone against a shoreline full of homes that were entirely incinerated by the devastating wildfire
None of the renovations the Millikins made to their house were intended to fireproof the 100-year-old structure - but they ultimately saved it from ruin
By Sophie Mann For Dailymail.Com
Published: 13:07 EDT, 20 August 2023 | Updated: 09:59 EDT, 21 August 2023
Amid the rubble that is now Lahaina stands one seaside home, left untouched by the devastating fires that decimated the town on Maui.
The home's owners, Dora Atwater Millikin and her husband Dudley Long Millikin III, recently made relatively minor adjustments to the $4million house that may have been the keys to its preservation.
Aerial photos show the red-roofed home with a bright white façade still in seemingly pristine condition, against the grey-toned, ashen landscape by which it is surrounded. The fire's death toll is currently tallied at 114, with the number expected to continue rising.
'It's a 100 percent wood house so it's not like we fireproofed it or anything,' Dora told the LA Times.
But the couple did recently replace the asphalt roof with a heavy-gauge metal one, and cut down on foliage surrounding the home in order to reduce the risk of termites spreading to the house.
Atwater Millikin, 63, said none of the changes that were made were done with the idea of fireproofing in mind - but it was these changes that ultimately saved it from ruin.
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