After Paradise

Tonight on After Paradise - It’s been 12 weeks since the Camp Fire started. We hear from those still being housed at the last Red Cross shelter in Chico. Today the shelter was supposed to close its doors. We’ll hear an update on that closure and where evacuees say they might go. We also check in with a local service provider about the status of permanent local shelters and affordable housing. We’ll hear from two Washington Post reporters about a multimedia web series on wildfires out this week

Hundreds of thousands of acres burned, fire tornado, cities destroyed, 86 dead. These are the types of news headlines coming from California as the state continues to experience faster and bigger blazes and the data is pointing to changing climates as being part of the reason for these mega fires.

As you just heard, it’s still an open question as to where many of the people currently at the last Red Cross shelter are going to go. For the most part local permanent shelters are full and trying to finding a place to rent – even if you have the means – is almost impossible. While local service providers are currently working to get a permanent low-barrier shelter set up in the community, they say that won’t be an option anytime soon.

Some vitally important news on deadlines. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced today that it has extended its deadline for applying for disaster aid to February 15th. The registration period was scheduled to close today. The deadline for applying for disaster relief from the US Small Business Administration was also extended to February 15th.

First, looking at the news of the week. Temporary housing and free building permits were among the issues addressed by the Butte County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Tonight on After Paradise - It’s been 11 weeks since the Camp Fire started. We bring you the latest from last night’s Paradise Town Council meeting. We also look to next week, next Thursday to be precise, January 31st. A day of some very big deadlines, including signing up for FEMA and the state's debris removal program for those who have been displaced by the Camp Fire. It’s also the day the final remaining Red Cross shelter is set to close. Hundreds still remain there, we’ll speak to those

Tonight on After Paradise - It’s been 10 weeks since the Camp Fire started. PG&E faces staggering legal costs. California’s largest utility now seeking bankruptcy protection. We explore what it means for Camp Fire survivor and ratepayers.

If anything good came out of the catastrophe last November, it was a renewed sense of community, and a desire to contribute to the recovery effort. One example of that is a program called “Adopt a Family” -- which matches fire victims with people who want to help them. NSPR’s Tess Vigeland spoke with Eric Loftholm, who founded the ad-hoc charity.

The heartbreak from the fire has tentacles seemingly everywhere. Not only did our community lose lives, and homes, and livelihoods, but we lost so much history as well. The Honey Run Bridge, long an icon of Butte County is now reduced to only its steel piers. And Paradise lost an important museum. Laura Wenus has more on an effort to rebuild the past.

The loss of some 14-thousand homes in Butte County created a scramble for housing. And one of the ripple effects is that home prices are skyrocketing. The average sale price for a single family home in Chico at this time last year was 341-thousand dollars. This year, it’s 100-thousand dollars more. This seller’s market means people are doing whatever it takes to win bidding wars, including writing poignant narratives of loss and turmoil. NSPR’s Christal Smith spoke with a very motivated buyer