After Paradise

Climate change is a topic that is increasingly becoming part of the discussion about rebuilding Paradise – and last week it was a large focus, as Chico State held its annual This Way To Sustainability Conference . NSPR’s Dave Schlom interviewed four survivors of the Camp and Carr fires – Susan Dobra, Chelsea West, Melissa Darnell and Luigi Balsamo – during the panel.

While nonprofits and government organizations have largely been highlighted as places where those who have been displaced can get help, the Paradise community itself has been greatly involved in connecting their friends and neighbors to resources.

Over the last few months you’ve been asking a lot of questions about insurance – questions like: “Are there areas and properties in Paradise that will be uninsurable because of high fire danger risk?” and “If we rebuild, will anyone insure us and for how much?” We’re working to find specific answers to these questions, but have been in contact with an organization that can provide, direct individualized help with your insurance questions. NSPR’s Nicole Camarda spoke with Amy Bach, the executive

Tonight on “After Paradise” it’s been 21 weeks since the Camp Fire started. We hear from a doctor at Adventist Health who tells us about the hospital’s new Cancer Care Center in Chico, we hear about a group who’s meeting to give Camp Fire survivors support and to discuss redesigning Paradise, and we hear from survivors of the Camp and Carr fires about whether or not their perspectives have changed on climate change after the fires.

Fiesta Taco Trailer used to sit outside of Whitewater Saloon in Paradise, until the saloon was destroyed by the Camp Fire. The taco trailer was spared and is now back on the Ridge. We’ve been speaking with people who have returned to Paradise either to live or work to see how they’re coping.

We’ve been following the stories of how animals were rescued from Camp Fire and today we’ll hear from a place that was critical to that endeavor. Valley Oak Veterinary Center in Chico treated about 500 pets after the fire and housed even more. What they found during the fire was that the bulk of the animals that were injured and never claimed were cats that hadn’t been microchipped. NSPR’s Sarah Bohannon spoke with Dr. Daniel Gebhart about the center’s experience and how microchipping can

FEMA, debris removal, right of entry forms, water, building permits – there has been a lot that has happened this week. NSPR’s Marc Albert gives us a recap.

Tonight on After Paradise, it’s been 20 weeks since the Camp Fire started. We bring you the latest post-Camp Fire recovery news, we learn why some pets were easily reunited with their owners after the fire and why other weren’t, and we hear from a man who lost his home, but has returned to work on the ridge with his food truck.

Beyond water and food, housing, or at least shelter is among life’s requirements. With 19,000 structures destroyed, evacuees are scattered among friends and family. Others are jammed into motels, hotels and RV parks from Sacramento to Redding.

When we talk about life lost during the Camp Fire, we immediately think people and animals. But when a fire reaches the extreme temperatures that the Camp Fire did in places, the living organic material in the earth itself ground burns as well. It effectively kills the soil and its ability to absorb moisture. Today we journey with independent producer Matt Fidler who learned about rebuilding the soil that once gave life to vegetation that covered the area’s now charred landscape.