Giant Earthship vs wildfire: Did good prepping save this ecovillage

Dan Schultz spent 15 years building his offgrid, selfsufficient utopia with whimsical homes and trees and gardens that produced enough fruit, nuts and produce to feed the half dozen residents for much of the year. The one thing they worried about was fire and last August their fears were realized. Caught in the path of the Smith River Complex fire that burned for 86 days and consumed nearly 100, 000 acres, Dans ecovillage suffered some major losses: the 3 story lodge that housed 4 or 5 people burnt to the ground, as did their community kitchen and Aframe cabin, but other buildings survived with just broken windows, like the huge Earthship greenhouse, or with minor charring, like the Hobbit Hole shelter. One of the toughest losses for Dan was all the perennial food sources, or what made them truly a permaculture permanent agriculture homestead. The orchard trees, you work for years to nurture them, explains Dan. Theyre like your children, you know. We had 100 fruit and nut trees, we