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By PAUL ELIAS
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO-- Small signs of rebuilding the California town of Paradise after it was destroyed by wildfire are sprouting this spring, including the issuing of the first permits to rebuild two the 11,000 homes destroyed five months ago.
The city issued the first permit Thursday to Jason and Meagann Buzzard, who said they never intended to leave the town of 27,000 people that was 90 percent destroyed by the Nov. 8 fire that killed 85 people.
“We were 100 percent intent on rebuilding in Paradise,” Jason Buzzard said. “It’s home. I was born and raised there. My wife was born there and so was my daughter.”
Buzzard said he and his family hope to move into their new home by Christmas -- but he has learned to be patient.
The first contractor he hired quit after a few months and initial building plans were rejected by the city.
“The process was very long. I equated it to a full-time job,” he said. “There were a lot of setbacks along the way.”
On Friday, Colleen Corners said she and her husband picked up their permit to start building on their property.
“We are excited and fortunate,” Corners said. “There are still lots of people struggling to just get their insurance straight. There’s still a lot to do and lots of patience is required.”
Several retail establishments have re-opened and the town is showing signs of life, she said.
“We have a grocery store, hardware store and auto repair shop,” she said. “Everything a small town needs.”
Still, Corners and others say the rebuilding process has been slow and hampered by hazards and hurdles that include contaminated drinking water in some neighborhoods.
Officials with the town’s water district have said federal and state authorities will deliver 2,500 tanks of clean water for cooking, cleaning and bathing while contaminated pipes are replaced -- a process that could take up to three years.