With the devastation still fresh for thousands of families who lost their homes to wildfires, they may not be ready to think about the rebuilding process, but one Orange County man is offering his support and advice after facing similar destruction.
Ramin Yazdi, who lost his Laguna Niguel home to the Coastal Fire, is still in the process of rebuilding nearly two and half years later.
As Yazdi walked through his Coronado Pointe neighborhood, the street was a mish-mash of homes in different stages of construction and a few empty lots too.
“He (neighbor) basically decided not to go through the trouble of rebuilding and sold it,” said Yazdi.
Like most homeowners in his neighborhood, Yazdi decided to rebuild after the 200-acre Coastal Fire ripped through Laguna Niguel, destroying 20 homes, including his.
“I didn’t expect I would need to be in a relocated place for more than 3 years,” said Yazdi.
Yazdi says his heart breaks for the several thousand families now facing a reality like his own.
“Watching this fire on TV has brought us all the way back to that day, my heart goes out to every one of them because their whole city has been destroyed,” said Yazdi.
He says the rebuilding process for him became like a full-time job, an approach he recommends to those families once they’re ready.
“This is the house I was going to die in, it was the last house. I was kinda coming in for the landing, my age and all that and I’ve got three boys that all this stuff belongs to them when me and my wife are gone – so I just want to make sure it’s a house that’s solid,” said Yazdi.
Yazdi says he prioritized three things: a plan, patience, and above all, positivity.
“For those families who at least didn’t lose any life, that’s one benefit, one thing positive. Number two, it’s going to go away at some point, they will get over it, they have to keep that light at the end of the tunnel.
In October, OCFA investigators determined sparks from overhead electrical equipment owned by Southern California Edison ignited the fire. Hundreds of homeowners including Yazdi are suing Edison and are now process of settling with the power company.
Yazdi hopes his house will be done in three months, three years after it was destroyed.
One last thing Yazdi recommends and something that will likely be on the top of mind for many displaced families, Yazdi made sure to rebuild with an interior and exterior sprinkler system.