Foil-wrapped home survived the Caldor Fire as everything around it burned

Two Cabins have survived the massive Caldor Fire that has ravaged the Lake Tahoe area.

The spared homes appeared to be covered in aluminum foil which looks like a massive baked potato.

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These wraps can prevent fire from catching the structure by blocking huge burning embers; preventing the building from touching the blaze directly;

In fact, a couple of layers of this wrap can prevent up to 92 percent of convective heat and 96 percent of the radiation heat,  According to Case Western Reserve University

But wrapping structures with the aluminized wrap is not a new fire protection strategy.

it was used in 1988 in the Yellowstone National Park. Firefighters, trying to prevent fire from reaching a historic building. Got trapped. The fire crew thought of wrapping the structure with aluminum foil. “They think that’s part of what saved them,”

Here it is in action: