After losing her home in the devastating Pomonal bushfires, Dee-Ann Kelly is rebuilding in a way that’s turning heads for all the right reasons. Instead of starting again with a standard home, she’s creating an Earthship built from earth-packed tyres, bottles and cans. And perhaps the most heartwarming part? A passionate community of volunteers is helping bring it to life!

Two years ago, a dry lightning strike sparked a fire that tore through the Grampians town of Pomonal in western Victoria, destroying 45 homes. Ms Kelly fled with only a few personal possessions and her pets, describing the experience as fast-moving and terrifying. Miraculously, no lives were lost. 

Now, that same community spirit that carried residents through the aftermath is helping shape a more resilient future.

Turning Waste Into Walls

Earthships are homes designed to work with nature rather than against it. Built using earth-packed tyres and recycled materials like bottles and cans, they’re known for being highly energy and water efficient. In Ms Kelly’s case, the home will use more than 350 tyres in its construction, giving waste materials a second life instead of sending them to landfill (woohoo!)That’s no small feat considering about 23 millions tyres are dumped across Australia every year. Talk about a tyre-rific comeback story.

Registered builder and Earthship designer Martin Freney, who has worked on around a dozen Earthship homes, says the design is particularly suited to bushfire-prone regions. Because the homes are surrounded by compacted earth, they offer a natural barrier against flames and extreme heat.

The home will sit at ground level but be mounded with earth, similar to an underground home. According to Mr Freney, the surrounding earth also acts as powerful insulation, helping reduce energy use and making the home cheaper to run over time.

A Community Rebuild

The project is expected to take around three months to complete and costs are said to be comparable to a conventional home build. But unlike many standard builds, this one comes with an extraordinary amount of community involvement. Around 35 volunteers from across Australia have travelled to Pomonal to help.

Volunteer Chevaun Buchecker travelled from South Australia to take part, helping create natural render for the walls using clay, sand and straw sourced largely from the property itself. She described the sense of connection and healing among volunteers as one of the most meaningful parts of the experience. 

For Ms Kelly, the build represents more than just replacing what was lost. It’s about proving that communities in bushfire zones can adapt, rebuild and create homes designed to better withstand future disasters.

Building a More Resilient and Sustainable Future

As climate challenges continue to reshape how Aussies think about housing and disaster resilience, projects like this show that there’s room for innovation, sustainability and community-led solutions all under one roof.

Ms Kelly hopes her Earthship will inspire others to think differently about rebuilding in bushfire-prone areas. Not just creating resilient people, but resilient homes too. And honestly, if a house made from tyres and bottles can rise from the ashes, there’s probably a lesson in there for all of us.

Ready for another feel good story? Check out our blog here about Brisbanes latest textile recycling facility, you'll love it! 

With Love, 
Ellie xox