LOUISA COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A raging fire tore through Louisa County yesterday, forcing residents to evacuate until late into the night and leaving a trail of destruction across 450 acres of land.
Louisa residents are now grappling with the aftermath, facing the daunting task of rebuilding their community from the ground up.
David Fuschetti and Mack Heart, residents of the Twin Oaks community, are salvaging what they can after being forced to evacuate.
Twin Oaks is an intentional resource-sharing community comprised of 100 individuals who produce their own food and operate their own businesses. Now, they must chart a new path forward after the fires ravaged their intimate community.
“As I’m walking back, I see all this black smoke, and I’m like, ‘Is there a fire going on right now?’ We were trying to develop a game plan, figuring it out in real-time,” Fuschetti said.
With their main source of income, a hammock factory, gone, they face the daunting task of rebuilding and finding alternative sources of revenue.
The fire came perilously close to Heart’s house, destroying her children’s bikes, trampoline and the family’s entire woodpile.
Heart said she is thankful for community members who rallied to suppress the fire before firefighters arrived, possibly preventing further devastation and the fire from reaching her house, which she shares with multiple other people.
While some residents begin the process of rebuilding, authorities are still assessing the extent of the damage and crews continue efforts to completely extinguish the fire. Additionally, officials warn of lingering air quality concerns in the area into Friday.
