Modern codes, construction techniques saved structures in Maui wildfire

Modern building codes and construction techniques were effective in saving buildings from the devastating Maui wildfire on August 9th, according to a recent report, IBHS Early Insights Lahaina Fire—2023, from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety’s research division.

The report cited a residential development, consisting of a mix of single-family homes and a cluster of multifamily units built between 2019 and 2020, that escaped destruction. The structures survived the conflagration at least partly due to fire retardant construction and modern building codes, the report says.

The exteriors of several of these buildings did ignite, but they were not consumed by flames. “Hawaii’s modern building code has high-wind requirements that introduced elements that helped newer construction resist wildfire conditions,” the report says.

Despite the buildings being located close together, the development was spared in part because of:

Class A roof covers—specifically asphalt shingles and metal
Non-combustible exterior wall materials
High wind-rated attic vents that prevented embers from entering the attic space

Notably, the report adds that landscape vegetation did not cover as much ground as it did in other locations that were destroyed by the fire. This provided less fuel for the flames to jump from one structure to another.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.