As the Caldor fire swiftly swept through California, there have been a huge number of photographs surfacing depicting burnt houses, torched businesses, and decimated forests. The destruction caused by this fire is heart-wrenching and far-reaching. One resourceful and industrious homeowner covered their cabin with an aluminum foil-like material. As many other cabins in this densely forested area were destroyed, the foil-wrapped cabin survived. The name of the homeowner has not been released.
… The material isn’t the aluminum foil you would find at the grocery store. Instead, it is an industrial-grade product that has an aluminum exterior with a nylon and polyester-woven interior. The layers are bonded with an adhesive designed to sustain extremely high temperatures. This material is attached to a structure with staples — lots of them.
… The United States Forest Service has been using this material for quite some time to protect historic buildings during wildfires. That said, homeowners have been catching on in recent years and account for a substantial portion of the market for this product. Firezat is a company that produces the fire-resistant foil. It comes in large rolls measuring 5-feet by 200-feet. That is enough to cover 1,000 square feet of your structure. It sells for nearly $700 per roll.