First new home completed in Paradise since Camp Fire

PARADISE, Calif. (KCRA/CNN) – Paradise, California issued its first certificate of occupancy for a rebuilt home Monday. It comes eight months after the Camp Fire devastated 90% of the community and displaced nearly all of its residents.

KCRA’s Vicki Gonzalez was there when the first family moved back in.

The Sinclaires are celebrating a milestone with significance extending beyond their family moving into a new chapter for the town of Paradise.

Victoria and Travis Sinclaire’s home was among the nearly 19,000 structures destroyed in the Camp Fire.

Now, they’re pioneering a fresh start a new beginning with their home in mint condition. It’s the first completed rebuild for the town of Paradise.

After eight long months that felt like an unstable rollercoaster towards eternity. “It’s been trying,” Victoria explained. “Something like this will either make or break a marriage. And for us we made it.”

One home to the next was thrown into unforgiving uncertainty.

Reporter Vicki Gonzalez asked Victoria, “Was there ever a moment you reconsidered, or considered, not coming back here and moving somewhere else?” Victoria replied, “I wondered what I would be coming back to, and you’d be foolish not to consider it.”

But for the Sinclaire’s, “home” goes well beyond a house. “When I was on my rubble it still felt at home and there was a piece of my heart that said it’s going to be ok,” Victoria said. “For me, ‘home’ is… we planted our roots here with the intention of never leaving this spot.”

The family’s furniture is set to be delivered Tuesday. Victoria said she hopes her friends and former neighbors to come back as well.