A West Altadena home destroyed in the Eaton Fire became the first to receive its certificate of occupancy on Friday.
On Grandeur Avenue, John Dyson and his family received the certificate from Mark Pestrella, the director of L.A. County Public Works.
“It's the actual official document that authorizes you to occupy these homes, and it is absolutely my pleasure to welcome the Dyson family back home,” Pestrella announced during the ceremony.
Dyson told KNX News’ Special Correspondent Steve Gregory that his father built the original home in the late 70s. But when it burned to the ground in the Eaton Fire, Dyson said he was determined to rebuild it better than before.
After the Army Corps of Engineers cleared the property, he went to work to get loans, hire contractors, and apply for permits.
“By October, it was a house that just needed finishing, and so then we got to here, and it wrapped up,” Dyson said. “But the building itself only took about five months.”
Dyson said he and his family are incredibly grateful.
“It is a blessing that we get to move back into the house that my parents built in 1979,” he said. “It couldn't have happened without the help and without faith and without family, without friends.”
L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said new rules implemented after the fires to help people rebuild must become permanent.
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“We know how many structures have been lost up here, and I've been laser-focused, and I will continue to be laser-focused on making sure the department streamlines the process and that the experience that the Dyson has is not the exception but the rule,” she said.
As for Dyson, he already knows how he will be celebrating his new home.
“We're gonna open the champagne at an appropriate hour, and then we're gonna throw some meat on the grill, cause I don't want to clean the kitchen yet,” he said. “And then we're just gonna exhale.”
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