The owner of a $9 million Malibu mansion is in disbelief that his property remains untouched after the Palisades Fire ravaged his neighborhood.
With a confirmed death toll of 10, the Palisades Fire has destroyed over 5,000 homes and businesses. Meanwhile, the Eaton Fire near Pasadena has consumed around 5,000 structures and spread across 14,000 acres.
David Steiner, a 64-year-old businessman from Texas, described the survival of his 4,200-square-foot, three-story house as “a miracle” amidst the devastation caused by wildfires that have scorched over 35,000 acres in the Los Angeles area.
Steiner shared that he began receiving calls saying, “Your house is all over the news” as fires swept through Los Angeles. Initially, he feared the worst.
“I started getting pictures and realized we had made it through,” he told The New York Post.
“My wife sent me something this morning that said, ‘Last house standing,’ and it brought a pretty big smile to my face during a really tough time,” he added.
Reflecting on why his home survived, the lawyer and former CEO of Waste Management, Inc., in Houston explained: “It’s stucco and stone with a fireproof roof,” and built on pilings driven about 50 feet into the bedrock to withstand crashing waves.
“It’s actually built like a cruise ship. The fireplace chimney looks like the smoke stack of a boat,” Steiner explained.
“And then the back balcony looks like the balcony off a cruise ship. And it feels like a cruise ship because you’re right there on the water.”
Although, he admitted: “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.
“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,” he said of the 4,200-square-foot, four-bedroom home. “And it was. The architecture is pretty nice. But the stucco and fireproof roof are real nice.”
Expressing gratitude in these difficult times, Steiner said: “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.”
