(BLACK FOREST, Colo.) — A Black Forest couple whose home was reduced to rubble by the devastating 2013 wildfire lost everything. But, they didn’t let the devastation of their loss get in the way of their recovery effort.

Paul and Debora Richardson’s house in the Black Forest neighborhood used to look over a sea of green.

“This used to be about 3,000 trees… All the way out there was covered in Ponderosa Pine trees,” Debora said, pointing out over her deck to what is now a vast open space.

View from the Richardson’s deck before and 10 years after the Black Forest Fire

On the morning of June 11, 2013, Debora went to Penrose Hospital where she worked as a nurse at the time. Little did she know it would be the final time she left her house, and the last time she would see those trees again.

“I grieved over the trees more than I grieved over the house,” said Debora.

While Debora was at work, Paul was working at home when he saw the Black Forest Fire raging toward him.

“There was no way I could defend the house. So, I started putting stuff in the car, and even at that time, I got burns all over my arm from embers coming down,” said Paul.

Paul grabbed two of their computers and an armful of clothes. He said the only way to escape was by driving through flames that were more than forty feet high.

When asked if he was scared for his life, he said, “Well, I was worried about it, let’s put it that way. But, I decided to give it a chance, floor it, and go through and it worked, knock on wood.”

It was a few days later when Paul returned to the house, “We lost everything in the house… It was totally gone.”

The Richardson’s house burnt to its bones. Almost everything they owned, even the most sturdy objects, such as furniture and their car, incinerated to ashes.

What did manage to survive, was the couple’s most delicate items. Surprisingly, Debora’s collection of china figurines made it out, with only one blemish. Their eyes which had been colored blue, are now stained black. Debora keeps them on display in their living room.

Instead of wallowing in nostalgia, Paul and Debora went head first into their recovery effort.

“Paul and I looked at it like, well, it’s just stuff. We can replace it and we’re going to be okay. I mean, we were both very happy to be alive,” said Debora.

They grieved through rebuilding. Paul became the contractor for their new house, and by Christmas the following year, they were able to walk back into a home that sat squarely atop the ashes of their old one.

“It was the rebuilding and actually creating a beautiful home again, that was, I guess, cathartic. It was helpful for us,” said Debora.

Even though their landscape completely changed, there are some remnants of the memories they used to have. Each of their grandchildren has a picture on a tree seat, that still stands today as a stump.

“A lot of the years following the fire, we replanted trees. It was like every year we’re going to replant some more trees… We tried to look at those moments of how can we make this into a phoenix rising out of the ashes type experience?”

The Richardsons are hoping that one day, a new generation can once again look out into the sea of green they once had.