BAREFOOT FIRE: 16_0_360_1web_1014fires_portteus_rlh

Bob and Jo Ann Portteus walk out the front door of their recently completed Swift Street home on Wednesday evening en route for dinner plans with a neighbor. Their new home was built on the same property as their home destroyed during the April 2009 wildfires. “Starting over was overwhelming,” said Jo Ann Portteus about the 6-months since the wildfires. “Moving in was overwhelming. Then as we got the things that make this a home, it began to get better. Now its like we’ve been here all the time. It’s over, it’s past and we’ve moved on.”

Bob and Jo Ann Portteus walk out the front door of their recently completed Swift Street home on Wednesday evening en route for dinner plans with a neighbor. Their new home was built on the same property as their home destroyed during the April 2009 wildfires. “Starting over was overwhelming,” said Jo Ann Portteus about the 6-months since the wildfires. “Moving in was overwhelming. Then as we got the things that make this a home, it began to get better. Now its like we’ve been here all the time. It’s over, it’s past and we’ve moved on.”