The Paradise megafire - the future? (Irvine, Oroville: felons, buying a home, buying)

[CA4Now]

"PG&E CEO Bill Johnson entered guilty pleas Tuesday on behalf of the company for 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the fire, which was blamed on the company’s crumbling electrical grid."

PG&E pleads guilty to 84 deaths from 2018 Northern California wildfire:
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...ornia-wildfire

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Ron Howard is filming a documentary about Paradise.

“We’ve grown numb to images of devastation, but when you are close to the people affected, you think of it on a more human level,” said the Oscar-winning filmmaker about the motivation behind the project that turned into his first Sundance appearance."

How Ron Howard earned the right to document Paradise, California’s destruction and rebirth:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...ntary-sundance

I believe it will be on the Nat Geo channel in the fall. There was a free streaming event this past weekend, but I missed it.

I am glad PGE got charged with the death of those who died in the fire, but many more people died in the months after the fire, from trauma & stress. May they rest in peace.

[Malloric]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

"PG&E CEO Bill Johnson entered guilty pleas Tuesday on behalf of the company for 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the fire, which was blamed on the company’s crumbling electrical grid."

PG&E pleads guilty to 84 deaths from 2018 Northern California wildfire:
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation...ornia-wildfire

And the sentence? $3.5 million. It's good to be big.

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by Malloric

And the sentence? $3.5 million. It's good to be big.

They need to stop the PUC rubber stamping rate increases, everytime, PGE gets fined. If it started to cut into profits, they might pay more attention.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Malloric

And the sentence? $3.5 million. It's good to be big.

On top of the $25.5 billion to victims of the Camp fire and several other wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...-to-kill-again

[CA4Now]

A review of Ron Howard's documentary on the Camp fire.

The sound of wind is rarely as sinister as it is at the beginning of “Rebuilding Paradise,” Ron Howard’s harrowing and heartrending new documentary. The loud, 40-mph gusts we hear are a grim omen, and they soon merge with other noises — anxious radio chatter, screaming sirens, the crackle of flames, the pop-pop of exploding tires — to form a chorus of fast-mounting dread. Through it all we hear a succession of human voices, trying to remain steady but finally abandoning any pretense of calm: “Please, we need your help, Lord,” a woman prays. “I’m scared,” another sobs. “I’m scared.”

You will share her fear. These opening moments return us to Nov. 8, 2018, the day the Camp fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history, destroyed the Butte County town of Paradise.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...ary-ron-howard

[mgforshort]

According to the Sacramento Bee, California’s latest population estimates show that Paradise — the Northern California town ravaged by the Camp Fire in 2018 — has seen the fastest population growth in the state in the last year.

Fueled by housing construction, the population of Paradise rose from 4,608 people as of Jan. 1, 2020, up to 6,046 a year later, according to estimates released by the California Department of Finance on Friday.

It is true, I can't drive a quarter mile without seeing a construction crew. That's the good part. The bad part is that the modular homes usually look the same like comparing a green apple to a yellow apple. The stick built homes appear to be better, but they all have a tract-home resemblance.

We purchased our 55-year-old house in 2015 for $ 145 per square foot. Looking at for sale prices the average cost now is $ 250 per sq.foot - they range from $ 216 to $ 269. One new built was $ 300/sq.foot.

By Southern California standards $ 250 / foot is not expensive. Our town home in Fullerton was sold for $ 380/foot, in the year of 2015; I'm sure it is much higher by now.

[Finper]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

According to the Sacramento Bee, California’s latest population estimates show that Paradise — the Northern California town ravaged by the Camp Fire in 2018 — has seen the fastest population growth in the state in the last year.

Fueled by housing construction, the population of Paradise rose from 4,608 people as of Jan. 1, 2020, up to 6,046 a year later, according to estimates released by the California Department of Finance on Friday.

It is true, I can't drive a quarter mile without seeing a construction crew. That's the good part. The bad part is that the modular homes usually look the same like comparing a green apple to a yellow apple. The stick built homes appear to be better, but they all have a track-home resemblance.

We purchased our 55-year-old house in 2015 for $ 145 per square foot. Looking at for sale prices the average cost now is $ 250 per sq.foot - they range from $ 216 to $ 269. One new built was $ 300/sq.foot.

By Southern California standards $ 250 / foot is not expensive. Our town home in Fullerton was sold for $ 380/foot, in the year of 2015; I'm sure it is much higher by now.

Did you decide to stay there? My neighbor in Idaho is working there on the power poles getting things rebuilt.

[mgforshort]

We have no other choice than wait out the end of Covid. If the homeowners insurance stays the same or climbs 10 % like last year we might stay here. Our climate is better than 90% of the rest of our country and that is difficult to leave behind. Paradise, even after the fire, and with all the construction, is still a very peaceful, gentle, comfortable, beautiful place.

The other threat is the repeal of prop 13, commercial or residential. The democrats are working on that. If our prop. tax goes double we must leave the same year.

[evening sun]

I think it's true about the population growing, I have several pals who have moved back to Paradise. Renting for now. It is a beautiful place.