From ashes to adobe: California wildfire victims turn to ‘radical’ building technique using ‘SuperAdobe’ — consisting of sandbags, dirt and barbed wire — to ‘beat nature at its own game’

“We are going to have to deal with extreme weather for the rest of our lives. To pretend otherwise is really folly,” Snortland told KCAL News. “I don’t see anybody doing anything radical. So what I can do is make my home radical.”

Radical how? SuperAdobe, developed by a company called CalEarth, is a form of architecture that uses long sandbags, barbed wire and earth, which the company says can withstand fire, flooding, earthquakes and even hurricanes. Think of it as adobe 2.0.

“The key is not the usage of material so much, but the understanding of geometry and forces of physics,” said late founder Nader Khalili to The Earth & I.

The need for fire-resistant homes is only going to increase as the frequency and severity of wildfires continues to increase. So far this year, 24,415 fires have burned through more than a million acres across the U.S., both significantly above the 10-year average, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

What’s so super about SuperAdobe

During the Eaton fire, Snortland watched her home burn on TV. Now she’s ready to rebuild — literally using the dirt on her property.

It’s why she came to an open house by CalEarth, a nonprofit founded by an Iranian architect who developed SuperAdobe based on traditional adobe architecture from his home in Iran.

Bridget Butler, executive director of the CalEarth Institute, told KCAL News that every CalEarth open house has been sold out since the fires. During the open house, they showcase the dome-shaped rooms, which she said are harder to shake, burn or wash away.

“The arch shape is the strongest shape in nature,” said Butler. “Instead of working against nature, it’s trying to beat nature at its own game.”

According to the website, the long coils of sandbags provide compression (vertical) strength and the barbed wire adds tensile (horizontal) strength.

If you’re so inclined, you could even build the house yourself and save on labor costs. SuperAdobe rolls start at $445 for 250 yards. They are sold in conjunction with CalEarth’s training courses.

A SuperAdobe home can last several years, according to CalEarth, but to make them permanent you’ll need to plaster over the sandbag structure to protect it from erosion.

It's unclear how having such a home would affect your home insurance policy.

The movement towards safer homes

The concept of earthen homes has been around for thousands of years. Indigenous communities in what is now New Mexico and Colorado, for example, have used adobe for centuries, keeping their homes cool in summer and warm in winter.

In the aftermath of the L.A. wildfires, advocates for natural building techniques argue that materials like adobe and cob (which use sand, clay and straw) not only offer fire-resistance, but are also more environmentally friendly — reducing toxic hazards associated with more modern building materials.