Off-the-grid hermit ‘River Dave’ grateful for help after fire ravages home

David Lidstone, 81, in the woods of Canterbury, New Hampshire (Jodie Gedeon via AP)

An off-the-grid hermit known to locals as River Dave, whose cabin burned down on the wooded property in the US where he was squatting for 27 years, has said he is grateful and overwhelmed by fundraising efforts and offers of a place to live.

“I feel about as good as I ever have in my life,” David Lidstone said in an interview with the Associated Press, saying he has many friends.