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Woolsey Fire Recovery: First Home Is Rebuilt In Malibu
In a week full of tough news, there was a bright spot. Laurie Brennan's home in western Malibu is now the first to be rebuilt and occupied by the owner after 2018's ferocious Woolsey Fire. Brennan and her two dogs are back inside more than a year after the Woolsey Fire destroyed her home and more than 400 others in her city.
It was the most amazing feeling the first night walking down the hallway because a lot of the house I kept the same. I stayed within the same foundation, I was able, my foundation had to be tested. So a lot of the house is the same -- like you walk down the bedroom hallway and you feel like you're back ... like the house didn't burn.
The Woolsey Fire broke out in the early afternoon of Nov. 8, 2018. In all the fire:
- Destroyed 1,075 homes and 46 commercial structures
- Burned 151.5 square miles across two counties
- Forced the evacuation of 250,000 residents
Student journalists at Pepperdine University produced the report below.
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GO DEEPER:
- City Hosts Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Home Rebuild (Malibu Times)
- What Emergency Officials Got Right — And What Did Not Work — During The Monster Woolsey Fire (LAist)
- Read L.A. County's final after-action report on the Woolsey Fire
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the ribbon cutting happened yesterday.
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