First home rebuilt after the Thomas Fire in Ventura

It will be a Christmas to remember for one Ventura Family. The Fuller family is the first family to rebuild their home after the Thomas Fire burned it to the ground.

Homemade stockings are a huge family tradition for the Fuller family.

“These are just precious to us,” said Sandra Fuller. “Last year my mom had bought a lot of things to put in the stockings and then she passed away and then it all burned up and that was the saddest thing for me.”

Last year the Thomas Fire destroyed that family tradition, along with their family’s house.

“My son came home at 9:30 p.m. and he said mom there’s a fire, have you seen it? I looked and my eyes just went huge,” said Fuller. “There were 80 mph winds out there and I texted my husband and said come home now.”

Within two hours the family evacuated gathering their most cherished items, along with important paperwork and pictures of the house. Then they headed to a friend’s house, escaping the fast-moving flames.

“We went right down the hill and their backyard has a clear view of our house,” said Fuller. “We watched our house burn down at 3:30 in the morning and it was like a torch. Within two minutes our home, and across the street was consumed.”

In 2017 life brought the family a lot of challenges. They lost family members, suffered health issues, and lost a home, but the Fullers say they have made peace with it all.

“This is just a house,” said Edward Fuller, Sandra’s husband. “We have ourselves, we have our health, and we made it out safely.”

The Fuller family has lived on Scenic Way since 2011. They knew they wanted to rebuild immediately.

“I think most people when we told them we wanted to be back in the house by christmas, they were were in disbelief that we could actually get it done that quick,” said Ed Fuller. “But to be honest with you we started drawling up the plans basically a day after the fire.”

The house has become the first to be completed in the city of Ventura and looks similar to the house they lost, with some upgrades.

“The interesting thing is, we sit in this new home and it feels very much like the old one in certain ways,” said Fuller. “Just the coziness, we picked some of the similar colors that the old house had. The wood flooring is the exact wood flooring that we had before.”

Come Friday their children will see the house completed for the first time.

“We are excited,” said Fuller. “I finished their stockings. It’s the thing here at Christmas, and being together and being restored.”