PARADISE, United States, Oct 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – It was the worst
wildfire in California’s history as it blasted through the small community of
Paradise, killing 86 people and erasing everything in its path.
But nearly one year after the inferno, the town in the northern California
foothills that was home to 26,000 people is literally rising from the ashes.
“We’re building a whole entire town pretty much from scratch,” Mayor Jody
Jones told AFP in an interview as she prepared to address a recent community
meeting about reconstruction.
Barely 4,000 residents live in Paradise today as the town prepares to
commemorate the deadly wildfire that erupted in the early hours of November 8
last year.
Nearly 19,000 structures, including 14,000 homes, were destroyed by the
inferno that wiped out 90 percent of the town.
Those who have come back are living in the few structures still standing
or in trailers parked on empty lots cleared of debris.
“The folks here who are coming back, who are rebuilding, view themselves
not as victims, not even as survivors but as pioneers,” Jones said. The road
to recovery, however, has been paved with many obstacles as reconstruction
has been hampered by all the toxic debris that had to be removed and chemical
contamination of the water supply.
Still, Jones said, local officials are forging ahead and have so far
approved some 280 building permits while another 100 or so are under review.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,” she said of the rebuilding effort.
“If we’re lucky enough to issue 500 building permits each year, it’s going to
take five to 10 years.
“I think we’re going to be a nice little town of about 5,000 people in a
year and a half and we’ll continue to grow.”
But the town is unlikely to ever resemble the quaint little community in
the Sierra Nevada Mountains that once attracted retirees because of its
affordability.
“It’s not going to be the same,” said Jones. “For a lot of seniors, the
rebuilding process is an arduous process, so a lot of them have chosen not to
come back.
“Additionally, everything will be brand new,” she added. “So I think it’ll
be attractive to young families and people who are looking for an affordable
place to live.”
– Preventative measures –
Jones, who lost her home in the flames, stressed that in order to make
sure last year’s calamity doesn’t play out again, the town has enacted
stringent regulations that go beyond standard guidelines.
That includes banning wood fences running up to a home, installing fire
resistant gutters, burying electricity lines, improving emergency
notifications and widening evacuation routes.
Crews have also been working nonstop to reduce the highly combustible
vegetation that helped feed last year’s fire which burned through 153,336
acres (62,053 hectares).
“100,000 trees have already been cut down on the ridge,” said Jones. “We
still have a lot of burnt trees, we estimate about 300,000 dead trees that
still need to come out.
“So it will not be the same kind of forest that it was before,” she added.
“We do have a long-term recovery plan that covers all this.”
As to what is sorely missing in the town for the 4,000 residents resilient
enough to call Paradise home today?
“I think they would all say they’d like to see more restaurants open,”
said Jones, grinning. “And that’s happening, we just had a new one open just
last week.”