As the Peachland Medical Building burned on a cold December night, Dr. Lawrence Amelang found his friend and fellow dental professional, Dr. Bernard Chang, in the crowd gathered outside the building.

Chang was a partner in the development of a new building on Tourney Road in Valencia. Amelang asked Chang about seeing the new building, and Chang asked him when he wanted to see it.

"Now," Amelang said.

"Now?" Chang replied.

As the fire tore through the two-story building, Amelang went to go look at the property. Shortly after, he signed his lease.

More than six months after the fire, Amelang is one of the first people to open up his practice in a new location - this time in Valencia.

"There's growth out in Valencia that I would like to be a part of," he said.

Amelang had been practicing in the building off of Peachland Avenue in Newhall for 27 years before the fire forced him, other medical practices and government offices out to find themselves new homes.

The two locations that have been the most common to move into have been the Gateway Medical Building and the Facey medical building off of Valencia Boulevard near Magic Mountain Parkway.

Over the past several months, Amelang, like many of the doctors who were forced to relocate due to the fire, found refuge in other offices.

Kim Rosen allowed Amelang to use her office while she was out of town in December, which allowed Amelang to resume seeing patients the Tuesday after the fire.

After a week there, Amelang moved into a temporary location on the campus of Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, sharing the offices of doctors Gilbert Snow and Moshe Benarroch.

Although he was grateful for all the help he received since the fire, it was difficult in a place that wasn't his.

"(It's) working in someone else's kitchen, which is awkward," he said in March.

Amelang said that many people helped him get into his new office quickly and help him start practicing.

However, there was one thing from his old office that he salvaged - but might not be able to bring in.

Amelang owns a piece of the Lyons Oak, an oak tree that was cut down on Lyons Avenue when the street was expanded.

He had kept it in his old office reception area with a museum plaque on it. Although he was able to salvage it from the fire, the smell on the piece from the fire made him think it wasn't the best idea to put it into the office.

However, his patients have asked about where it is, and have told him how much they have enjoyed looking at it over the years.

He has considered finding a way to bring it back, but he understands that change is inevitable for his practice.

"People like to stay close to their roots," he said. "It's unfortunate when change is made - change like an oak tree cut down or an office burns down.

"You have to move forward and live with the change."