"This is home - from day one we wanted to rebuild," he said.

Losing their Dixons Creek home, two pets and some friends has taken its toll on Mr Adamson, his wife Sharon and three young children Curtis, 5, Rory, 9, and Angus, 11.

"I feel sorry for people who lost loved ones, family and friends," Mr Adamson said. "We're in the same boat losing friends, but luckily no family.

"You have your ups and downs. We've had some problems with the children being upset, but we're trying to work through it with them to a stage where they're going to be happy again.

"Getting Fergus [a terrier cross] for Rory has been a godsend. He's turned the circle, always playing with Fergus - they're never too far apart."

Despite the red tape, building provisions and holdups, the Adamsons are on track to have a steel frame up by March and their home finished by the middle of the year.

"Some people will never come back. It might too hard to rebuild or they've got too many bad memories. I can understand that, but it's the freedom here, the space. Sure you have the bad aspect of fire, but you can be on the outer fringes of Melbourne and still be affected by it."

In the middle of the elevated block, which has far-reaching views across burnt-out forest, is a stark reminder of Black Saturday's devastation.

A stone pizza oven, once a feature of the Adamsons' family kitchen, stands untouched, lightly blackened by the firestorm that swept through the valley.

"We should be thinking simpler materials and not only man-made fire-retardant building materials," Mr Adamson said. "Once you start building with masonry it takes time, but if it stands up it's worth the time."

A CFA volunteer, he said at least people were more alert to the dangers of fire since Black Saturday.

"As long as we can learn from this, if this happens again in another area we can act quickly and save as many lives as possible.

"It doesn't take a lot to go from a subdued fire to something catastrophic."