The 'miracle homes' of Malibu that withstood destructive California wildfires

Split image. Both images showing the lucky few beachfront properties left standing in Malibu after wildfires ravaged the area,
The structures have been dubbed 'miracle homes' online. Credit: AP

By James Gray, ITV News Producer

Wildfires have wrecked a path of destruction across Los Angeles, destroying or damaging thousands of homes, businesses and structures.

Officials in California have described scenes created by the fires as akin to a "hellscape", with the death count still rising as the blazes continue to burn.

Malibu, a city home to a wealth of A-list celebrities, was hit by the largest of the fires - the Palisades Fire - with many of its multi-million pound beachfront properties reduced to ash and rubble.

But among the smouldering embers, a few lone buildings - dubbed as 'miracle homes' - appear to have survived the fire and brimstone brought to bear.

Aerial pictures show some such homes still standing in place just metres away from the charred remains of what, at the start of 2025, had been neighbouring properties.

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Several beachfront properties stand intact next to the chared remains of adjacent structures in Malibu, California. Credit: AP

Other images, taken from a wider viewpoint, show scantly believable scenes of intact properties surrounded by little more than foundations and support beams rising from the scorched ground.

The so-called 'Miracle of Malibu' also appears to have covered structures aside from residential homes.

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The majority of buildings in Malibu engulfed by the Palisades Fire were either damaged or destroyed. Credit: AP

The owners of the famous Getty Villa Museum - which includes the largest estimated endowment of any museum in the world - confirmed it's Malibu property had also managed to escape the flames of the Palisades Fire largely unharmed.

A statement shared on the museum's official X account on Friday confirmed its "staff, the art collections, and buildings remain safe".

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The Palisades Fire has been confirmed as the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles, surpassing the Sayre Fire of November 2008 - which destroyed 604 structures in the northern suburb of Sylmar.

Fire officials estimate more than 5,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed by the Palisades Fire.

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