When the 2025 Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County came down the hill behind Sharon Barlow’s single-story ranch, it engulfed the house next door. Embers blew onto Barlow’s stone-coated steel roof and scorched the granules, but the flames didn’t spread.
J.N. Davis Roofing, Covina, Calif., recently replaced Barlow’s roof with new Houston-based Westlake Royal Building Products’ United Steel™ Pine-Crest shake panels. When the old United Steel panels were removed, the plywood underneath had not sustained fire damage and remained intact.
The stone-coated roofing materials in combination with stucco walls, stucco eaves and other fire-resistant exterior materials and details likely also helped stop the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.
To read more about fire-hardening homes, see “Gutter protection can help fire-harden homes.”
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