Italy — Italy, Milford and Forreston volunteer fire departments respond to a house fire along Ridge Street in Italy around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, just a couple of blocks away from the Italy Fire Station itself. Crews worked together to get the blaze under control in an effort to prevent the flames from jumping to nearby homes. Neighbors looked on with concern but the fire was under control quickly and no injuries were reported.

Home owner, Frank Figueroa, commented afterwards, “You can bet the [next] house will be a dome. I only get burned once….Pun intended.”

Figueroa was referring to a Monolithic Constructors, Inc. dome style home that’s shell is steel-reinforced concrete and is near indestructible. Domes can hold their own against Tornados, Hurricanes, Earthquakes and even fires, both inside and out. A fire inside a dome will result in minimal damage and often times extinguishes itself. Brick homes fair better against fire as far as their exterior goes, more so than a wood framed house. However, there is little to keep a fire from gutting the interior of a brick or wood framed home unlike the air-tight environment offered by the dome.

With his knowledge of domes as an employee of Monolithic, which has its headquarters in Italy, Texas, Figueroa, who was actually in Turkey constructing a dome at the time of the fire, is aware of the benefits of dome living and vowed to make his next home a dome.

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