STORY: Amid rows of homes turned to ash by the Palisades Fire stands a home that held out against the flames and smoke that scorched northwest Los Angeles last week.
It is owned by enthusiastic environmentalists Dr. Karina Maher and her husband Michael Kovac, an architect who designed the building with an emphasis on sustainability and wildfire resistance.
:: Michael Kovac
Kovac and Maher fled their home when the fire broke out last week and watched from a distance as their security cameras captured the approaching fire.
'Here is the house that is in a happier time. The day before. And the first time we see fire, just three hours later there's a big fire in the background.”
Eventually the power went out, leaving the fate of their home in limbo.
After the fire swept through the area, photos of the destruction began appearing online.
In the background of a photo of their neighbor's destroyed house, the couple saw their house intact.
The sight brought mixed feelings to Maher.
“It really looks like an apocalypse or a war zone, with everything and ash and rubble and still smoldering and smoking and burning, and seeing our house sitting there. So there is, I think, a kind of survivor's guilt, if you want to use that term. And I mean, we're proud and happy that our efforts have paid off. But we could never have imagined such a grim scene as this.”
Some of the features the couple says helped save their home include fire-resistant cladding, a planted roof and fire sprinklers that disperse fire retardant on command.
Moreover, they built a so-called 'defensive space' around their house.
That minimizes the risk of flames jumping from one structure to another.
“By building, designing the house so close to nature and knowing the history of Southern California, we were well aware that at some point in the life of the house a serious fire would occur, at least nearby. And so we designed the house to be both fire-resistant and sustainable. And fortunately, those two systems are often one and the same.”
The Palisades Fire is one of several that have ravaged Los Angeles in the past week, killing at least 20 people and damaging or destroying an estimated 12,000 buildings.
The firestorm is already the costliest in US history in terms of insured losses.
A massive rebuilding effort lies ahead, likely costing billions of dollars.
As that recovery begins, Kovac and Maher hope that society will take the threats of climate change and extreme weather events seriously and come up with smarter, realistic solutions.
“You know, we're not going to turn the climate ship over anytime soon. So in the meantime, whether it's flooding in the Southeast, or hurricanes, or wildfires in California, we need to be realistic about what the threats are and design accordingly.”
