(TNS) - Chainsaws were humming and backhoes were beeping. Wood frames were being hammered into place.

It was the sound of Paradise rebuilding, one nail at a time.

“I love it up here — it’s beautiful,” said Holly Austin, watching from a camper as her husband and a small crew worked on their new garage on Paradise Avenue.

One year after the Camp Fire destroyed much of the town in California’s deadliest wildfire, Paradise is coming back to life. Eleven homes have been rebuilt, and the town has issued more than 300 permits to those who lost their homes and wouldn’t think of moving elsewhere.

But in Paradise, emotions are raw and fears are easily stoked. A few weeks ago, when they spotted smoke in the air, Austin and her neighbors reflexively braced themselves for another disaster — even though it turned out to be someone’s fireplace.

“It was all over the internet — ‘oh, did you smell smoke?’ ” Austin said.

“We are all jumpy.”

So are millions of her fellow Californians.

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