It looked a little out of this world, but thermal wrapping material may have saved a historic cabin during the American River Complex fires that burned during the past two weeks.

The Mumford Cabin, located at the bottom of the Mumford Bar Trail near the North Fork of the American River east of Foresthill, was threatened by flames

“(The cabin) is the oldest historical structure in the Tahoe National Forest,” said Jane LaBoa, fire information officer with the Tahoe National Forest. “They’ve found newspapers in the walls dating to 1890.”

Fire crews carved out some defensible space around the cabin by clearing brush and trees, but the cabin needed more protection.

The wrapping material was flown in on a helicopter sling, but after it became tangled in trees, crews hiked in to wrap the building. Information on what unit worked to wrap the structure was unavailable as of press time.

The material is similar to what firefighting crews use for fire shelters, said Mary Huels, fire information officer for the Tahoe National Forest. The wrapping consists of several layers of insulation with air between layers and a reflective material on the outside, she said.

Late this week after fires died down, crews hiked back in to unwrap the historic structure. The building was surrounded by burned vegetation, LaBoa said, but the building was unscathed.

“Locals know about the cabin and some were involved in the restoration of the cabin, so it had real significance to them. Nobody wanted to see the cabin go,” La Boa said. “You look at the map and shake your head because there was no way to avoid having fire around the cabin. But we did what we needed to do and the fire did its thing and it was a happy ending.”

The Journal’s Michelle Miller-Carl can be reached at michellem@goldcountrymedia.com, or post a comment at Auburnjournal.com.