The roof that survived

By Emma Peterson.

When fire tested a California home, the stone-coated steel roof played a key role in keeping it standing.

In 2025, 471,207 acres of land in California burned in wildfires and over 23,700-acres of damaged lands from that total is attributed solely to the devastating Palisades fire. But not every home within those acres actually burned down; some structures were left standing while others collapsed around them. With the hard work of fire fighters and, in some cases, the right building materials, those buildings remained.

Sharon Barlow’s single-story ranch in Altadena was one such lucky building. And looking at the house in the aftermath, it seems like Sharon’s Unified Steel roof played a big role. When embers from the neighbor’s homes burning blew onto the stone-coated steel roof, the granules were scorched but didn’t light on fire (see the marks in the photo to the right!). This is the ultimate testament to the Unified Steel system’s Class A fire rating. And it’s that rating, in combination with some lucky wind shifts, the stucco walls and other fire-resistant exterior detailing that kept Sharon’s home standing.

Now, over a year later, Sharon is upgrading her home with more fire-resistant upgrades, including a new Unified Steel roof. JN Davis Roofing, the project contractor, told Westlake Royal Roofing Products that Sharon is far from the only homeowner in the California community making the move to stone-coated steel. As Robin Thomas, owner of JN Davis, put it:

We’ve been putting Unified Steel stone-coated steel roofs on for years...[Clients don’t] know that they have options out here. It’s not just an asphalt shingle or a tile roof. [We make a point to explain to them that] you can actually put metal roofs on and really protect your roofs from fire damage.

JN Davis operations manager Josh Smith added, “90% of the building plans I get sent to me now call for a metal roof. It’s what everyone wants. They just don’t know what kind of metal roof until we [tell] them about stone-coated steel.”

And the incredible fire resistance that helped save Sharon’s home last year is just one of the many benefits of installing stone-coated steel. Other benefits include a Class 4 hail impact resistance, the capacity to withstand Category 5 hurricane-force winds and a fully transferable 50-year limited warranty.

Learn more about Unified Steel and its benefits.