LOUISVILLE, Colo. — In Louisville, bright pink peonies bloom next to blackened car frames and foundations covered in ash and debris.
New life sprouts quietly, but on Monday, one couldn't help but hear the noise of a new build.
“I think this is great!" said Justin Wood, watching an excavator take a big scoop of dirt. "This is a great first step for the community.”
Wood is owner and manager of Louisville-based Wood Brothers Homes. The local builder understands an excavator can be uplifting in more ways than one.
"They're going to be really excited to see this happening," Wood said. "Within the coming weeks, you’ll hear nail guns going off and compressors. So, that’s a great sound to hear around here as far as a rebuild."
A construction crew broke ground Monday morning on the first home in Louisville to be rebuilt since the Marshall Fire.
“I wish I was there to see it," said Jessica Carson.
Carson spoke to 9NEWS over Zoom from Litibu, Mexico. She was there to comfort a friend after a death in the family, but she couldn't help but picture what she was missing at home in Louisville.
“I want to see the rebirth," Carson said. “It kind of puts the devastation more in the rear-view mirror and lets you focus on the possibility of what it could be again and what it will be again.”
On Dec. 30, 2021, Carson lost the home she shared with her kids on Larkspur Lane.
“You never think that a wildfire is going to go through town," Carson said.
Carson and her kids evacuated, but their home was the first in the neighborhood to burn, Carson said.
“It was a happy home," Carson said. “It was just a happy place to be and felt like the perfect home.”
Monday marked 158 days since the Marshall Fire destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Louisville, Superior and Boulder County.
Carson's home will be the first house rebuilt in Louisville.
"This gives us a great sense of pride to help them get their homes back that they lost," Wood said.
City leaders came out Monday to watch an excavator begin digging the foundation.
“Today is really filled with joy because we have a family that’s finally breaking ground and that’s really the next step toward getting home," said Ashley Stolzmann, mayor of Louisville.
As the rebuilding began, Stolzmann noted the signs of rebirth in Louisville.
"It was like a wasteland, and to see peonies blooming right behind me, to see flowers coming up in the spring and all the grass green, it’s really signs that, you know, life will come through," Stolzmann said.
In Louisville, new life grows and neighborhoods will, too.
“Can’t get back all that was lost, but hopefully, make it even better," Carson said.
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