The owner of a mansion that miraculously survived the devastating Los Angeles wildfires has revealed why he thinks his home escaped disaster.
At least 11 people have lost their lives as a result of the devastating fires, while more than 10,000 homes and other structures are said to have been destroyed.
David Steiner, from Texas, is one of the lucky ones as his $9 million Malibu mansion is somehow still standing after the raging fires approached his home.
The 64-year-old retired waste-management higher up thought his mansion was a goner after a local contractor sent him a video of flames and smoke engulfing nearby properties.
The mansion miraculously survived the blaze (JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
But somehow, the house – which was vacant at the time – is still standing.
Steiner told the New York Post: “It’s a miracle — miracles never cease. [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.
“It [the video] looked like nothing could have possibly survived that, and I thought we had lost the house.”
Once the fire had calmed down, Steiner was expecting his mansion to be burnt to the ground, bun then he received the unexpected news it was still standing.
He added: “I started getting pictures and realized we had made it through. 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.”
As for how the mansion survived the fire, Steiner told the New York Post how the property’s ‘ultra-sturdy construction’ likely saved it from the fires.
“It’s stucco and stone with a fireproof roof,’’ he said.
Steiner thought his mansion was a goner (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
While Steiner is grateful his mansion survived the fire, he’s understandably hurt by the devastating events taking place in LA right now.
“It wasn’t a happy time,” he said of the moment he received texts stating his home was being engulfed by flames. “But I can replace it. It’s not a person.”
Steiner continued: “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.”
The home doesn’t have the usual family connection you get with a property, with Steiner explaining how he bought the mansion when two of his sons were in the area for school.
