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Rebuilding Ramps Up In Santa Rosa's Coffey Park 17 Months After Wildfire

SANTA ROSA (CBS SF / AP) -- An official says that 17 months after a massive wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes in a Wine Country neighborhood, 70 percent of the properties are under construction or have been rebuilt.

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

Santa Rosa Rebuilding Effort Following Wine Country Wildfires
A house being rebuilt in Santa Rosa's Coffey Park neighborhood after the deadly North Bay wildfires. (CBS)

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.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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