Elderly couple gets keys to their rebuilt Camarillo home, destroyed by Mountain Fire

For the first time in nearly a year and a half, the Nordquists are back home. Alvyn and Phyllis lost their home when flames tore through their Camarillo neighborhood in November of 2024, and now they're among the first to rebuild and begin again.

"When something happens like this, and God comes through like he did, you know you're doing the right thing," Phyllis tearfully said. "This feels like home," Alvyn said, sitting in his new dining room.

The Nordquists have been married for 65 years and have lived in the same home for 53 years, raising their family.

While their home burned down in the Mountain Fire, amid the rubble, they discovered something unexpected. A single bookshelf still standing, holding their wedding album.

"We were thrilled," Alvyn said. They were also able to save a portrait of their children, making the salvaged photos a symbol of their past and future, and their home – a marriage of both.

"It's a whole new beginning getting used to a whole new home," Phyllis said, as that beginning is now taking shape.

Builder and neighbor Michael Llako helped bring their home back to life, a structure that may look different, but carries the same meaning. "Our clients who are 90 and 91 years old lost everything," Llako said.

He said it took eight months to build, from first shovel to keys. "It has been built from the ground up. We started in July, and today is April 10, and we have now finished this property."

Llako added that it didn't come without its challenges and lessons.  Now the Nordquist home stands as a reminder of where they started and proof of how far they've come.