These people are rebuilding homes lost to wildfires in the western US – only this time they are using a material that they hope won't burn. Mel

'I said to myself, dirt doesn't burn': The people rebuilding their homes with earth

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2024-10-22 11:30:04

These people are rebuilding homes lost to wildfires in the western US – only this time they are using a material that they hope won't burn.

Melanie Glover's back window opens to a sweeping view of the Rocky Mountains. When she rebuilt her home in summer 2024, she wanted to keep this view.

On 30 December 2021, rapidly moving winds had carried hot flames across these plains to her neighbourhood in the Denver suburb of Superior, Colorado, destroying her home and nearly 1,000 others. Her husband, Matteo Rebeschini, and children were trapped in the front foyer for 30 minutes as their house burned, before escaping unharmed once the fire passed.

The fire brought trauma that lasts to this day, but Glover and Rebeschini were determined to rebuild. So they did – only this time, they used earth blocks.

"We want to be able to feel safe," says Glover. "We wanted to build a house so that if something like this happens again, we have time."