Interesting article. However, I’m still trying to imagine how the house ignites if windows and doors are closed. Let’s say one of those embers gets into a vent as the article suggests. If an ember were to get in a plumbing vent jutting up from the roof, for example, it would drop down through a copper pipe and likely be doused by the water in the p-trap. Plus, inside the pipe, there is no wind to stoke the ember.
Some of the houses in the photos have nothing left but ashes. Did the refrigerator melt?? Stainless steel has a melting point of 2500 deg. F. Clay bricks will crumble to ash at 2000 deg. F, yet many houses saw only the brick chimneys survive. It takes time to melt metal even at very high temps. So what is fueling the fire to make it hot enough long enough to melt metal and crumble the stucco walls?
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