Rebuilding in Santa Rosa area destroyed by wildfire ramps up

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — An officials says that 17 months after a massive wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes in a wine country neighborhood a fully 70 percent of the properties are under construction or have been rebuilt.

Gave Osburn, Santa Rosa’s deputy director of development services, tells the Press Democrat reconstruction in Coffey Park has ramped up in recent months.

An October 2017 fire destroyed 1,422 homes in the working-class community in Santa Rosa.

By October 2018, a year after the fire, only 21 houses had been rebuilt and 520 were under construction. Today, 191 homes in Coffey Park have been completed, while another 689 are under construction.

Jeff Okrepkie, president and founder of neighborhood support group Coffey Strong, says he expects some 700 rebuilt homes to be occupied by midsummer.

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Information from: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, http://www.pressdemocrat.com