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Firestorm 2003 Archive

Cedar Fire Victim Gets New Home

Habitat For Humanity Helps Elderly Woman

POSTED: 9:58 am PST March 13, 2005
UPDATED: 10:57 am PST March 13, 2005

Another small victory in the rebuilding of homes lost in the Cedar Fire will be celebrated Sunday when volunteers who helped an 80-year-old woman rebuild her home return to see the finished product, 10News reported.

Rosemarie Michelsen was unable to get homeowners insurance before the October 2003 wildfire, because her home was 50 feet too far from a fire hydrant, according to Kim Cruz of Habitat For Humanity.

Since the fire destroyed her house, she has lived in a trailer donated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Cruz said.

The house was rebuilt with $85,000 from the San Diego After-the-Fire Fund and $10,000 from the Change a Life Foundation, Cruz said.

Hundreds of volunteers donated their time beginning last September to rebuild the house, which includes a standpipe to take care of the hydrant issue.

The Cedar Fire was started by a lost hunter, Sergio Martinez, on Oct. 25, 2003 and destroyed more than 2,200 homes and resulted in 15 deaths.

On Thursday, Martinez pleaded guilty to starting the blaze, the costliest in state history. He faces five years in state prison when he is sentenced on Aug. 5.

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