Volunteers build home for Kern County family who lost home in 2016 Erskin Fire

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Nail by nail, volunteers at Bethany Church are helping the Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) by framing out a house for a family that lost their home in a wildfire in 2016.

"I am hammering the boards for the borders to make the walls for the house we are building," said volunteer Ian Hofer.

As sawdust filled the air in the parking lot and temperatures started to warm-up, crews worked in the heat to get as much done as possible.

"I really enjoy it. I like to help out with people," Hofer said.

It is the first time Bethany Church has hosted the beginning stages of building a home. Once the framing is done, it will be placed on a lot.

"It's just incredibly rewarding to be apart of this. You are thinking about the family that's going to move in... their life has been just devastated by the fire and they've probably have been living with family or just kind of making it work for a couple years," said lead Pastor Brian Wiebe. "They are going to walk into a home that's theirs, it's been built with love, care. It's such a privilege to be a part of it."

The Erskin Fire tore through the Lake Isabella area in 2016, but families are still trying to recover from the devastation.

Saturday MDS spent time building a home for second Kern County family. It is just under 1,000 square feet and will have two bedrooms with one bathroom.

"We work for people that don't have insurance or not enough insurance, if we didn't help them probably they wouldn't have a way to get their house rebuilt," said Steve Wiest with MDS.

The family in Kern County will see their home at the end of the month.