More than just succulents

Suzy and Ray Schaefer are so fortunate that their home survived [“Did Succulents Save Her Home?” Nov. 8]. The one photo of their home shows fire-resistant stuccoed adobe walls. All the photos show that trees above the succulents burned, but the trees must have had healthy moisture too: A lot of small black twigs are on the black branches, so that flame was not too hot and the stucco walls held.

In the Cedar fire, a home was surrounded by 60 feet of succulents and had stucco walls and tile roof but burned because embers got in through some hole. Another home that survived had dozens of well-pruned and lightly irrigated (healthy, moist) native evergreen shrubs and had a gravity-feed sprinkler system that kept the roof damp. All these things saved these homes, not just one feature.

Succulents are pretty, remarkable plants, but I’d withhold the conclusion that they “saved the house.” The Schaefers had an array of features to protect their home, including succulents. And maybe good luck played a part. Maybe the wind turned; maybe that explains the green palm fronds dangling down over the camera viewfinder in one photo.

Kay Stewart San Diego