A US businessman has revealed the reason he thinks that his home was spared by the flames of the LA wildfires despite his neighbours properties being reduced to rubble.
David Steiner’s $9million Malibu mansion is the only structure left standing on his row after the Palisades fire tore through his neighbourhood.
The blaze – which was one of eight raging around the LA county, although three of those have now been contained by firefighters – has burned more than 20,000 acres so far.
It has also destroyed over 5,000 homes and businesses, with Sky News reporting that it was the ‘biggest’ so far.
Strong winds and lack of rain are believed to exacerbated the fires, but police think that the Kenneth fire – which threatens homes near Calabasas and Hidden Hills – was intentional and a man was arrested on suspicion of arson after locals reportedly detained him until police arrived.
A string of stars, including Paris Hilton, Anna Faris, Eugene Levy and Billy Crystal, have all lost their homes in the last few days as the infernos continue to ravage LA.
So, Steiner was left stunned when he spotted that his property had prevailed despite the towering flames which have consumed the area.
The retired waste-management mogul presumed his three-storey home, which was vacant at the time, was doomed after a local contractor sent him a video of flames and smoke tearing through the street on Tuesday (7 January).
“[The contractor] was watching the news reports and saw my neighbor’s house going down and told me, ‘It looks like your house is going too’,” Steiner told the New York Post.
Then people began getting in touch with the business magnate from New Orleans to inform him that his ‘house was all over the news’, but not for the reason he first expected.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the mansion was seen standing strong next to its decimated neighbours.
“I started getting pictures and realised we had made it through,” Steiner continued. “My wife sent me something this morning that said, ‘Last house standing’. And it brought a pretty big smile to my face at a pretty bad time.”
He reckons that the design of the 4,200-square-foot, four-bedroom home – which he says is ‘built like a cruise ship‘ – is what allowed it to survive the devastating fire.
It was built to withstand earthquakes and has an ‘ultra-sturdy construction’, according to the father-of-three.
“It’s stucco and stone with a fireproof roof,” Steiner explained, while adding that it also boasts pilings ‘like 50 feet into the bedrock’ which keep it steady when strong waves crash in.
“To be totally honest with you, I never in a million years thought a wildfire would jump to the Pacific Coast Highway and start a fire,” Steiner said. “I thought, ‘If we ever have an earthquake, this would be the last thing to go’. I honestly didn’t think that if we had a fire, this would be the last thing to go. And it was.
“The architecture is pretty nice. But the stucco and fireproof roof are real nice.”
Although he is appreciative that his mansion survived the fire, he is well aware that he is one of the lucky ones in LA right now.
Steiner’s residence was not his family’s full-time home, as he purchased the pad when two of his sons previously attended school in the area.
Hesaid: “I was getting texts from people saying, ‘We’re praying for you. It’s so horrible’. I said, ‘Don’t pray for me – what I lost is material goods’. I lost a property, but others lost their homes. I didn’t have my family’s mementos there. It wasn’t my family home. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes.”
The businessman said he believes that his mansion will have suffered some smoke damage, and although he has insurance, it will only ‘cover 50% for a wildfire’.
