Why are lone homes left standing after the fires? It's not entirely luck

Emails and videos of burned buildings in Los Angeles versus those still standing have been flying back and forth among architects, builders and fire safety specialists around the world. Many experts stress that plain luck is a major factor in burning. After all, wind can make a split-second 180-degree change in direction, and head toward someone else’s house. But builders and architects stress that they have modern techniques and materials, and some methods borrowed from the past, that dramatically reduce the risk of a building burning, even in an intense fire.