Paradise Fire/Camp Creek Fire 11/08/2018 (Chico, Oroville: moving to, trees, permits)

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by CCbaxter

Yes but I think you only have a few days left to file lawsuits.

Don't know, haven't kept track... tho I've been posting this stuff partly to remind folks who haven't yet done whatever that it might have a deadline.

[Reziac]

Tree removal on private property

https://buttecountyrecovers.org/priv...y-tree-removal

[So far the only tagged trees the map would show me are in Magalia, and all were very much dead.]

Option 1: Government Tree Removal Program

The Town and County are working with CalOES and other federal and State partners in a hazard tree removal program to identify and remove hazard trees on private property that pose a threat to fall onto a public right-of-way or other public improved facility. The Government Tree Program is available at no out-of-pocket cost to property owners who complete and sign a Tree Right-of-Entry (ROE) form to allow access to private property for tree removal. Property owners must submit the Tree ROE form by close of business on December 20, 2019 to participate in the Government Tree Program. Download the Right-of-Entry Form.

Option 2: Private Tree Program

Property owners who choose not to participate in the Government Tree Program for hazard trees must remove their own hazard trees in order to comply with Town and County ordinances. An inspection will be conducted to confirm all hazard trees that pose a threat to fall onto the public right-of-way are removed. Property owner should complete the Private Tree Program Inspection Access Form if you plan to remove hazard trees yourself or if you already removed the hazard trees. The deadline to submit the Inspection Access Form is also close of business on December 20, 2019.

[mgforshort]

Here is a quick update exactly one year after the fire wiped out Paradise on the 8th of November, 2018.

The death toll is 85.
Approximately 14,000 structures burned down.
As of today, one year later, 12 homes have been rebuilt and occupied.
Close to 400 building permits have been received.

Unless the rate of rebuilding picks up significantly, we'll have our town back in about one thousand years - give and take a hundred or more either way.

[JGC97]

Right now watching Paradise: Back from the Ashes on KCRA3. Listening to 911 calls. One dispatcher told a young woman, who asked if they should evacuate, that there was no danger to Paradise.

One year since that day. Amazed at the resiliency of these people. Still a lot of healing to do, though. But it's great that they won't give up and walk away.

You can watch Part I of Return to Paradise here: Scroll half way down the page to play the video. It runs about 28 minutes long. https://www.kcra.com/article/return-to-paradise-life-documentary/29711923
Part II and III follow just below it.

[opossum1]

There's no point in rebuilding the town, this is insanity. OK, may be rebuilding only a small part that can be easily evacuated given very limited evacuation routes out of this area.

This is not the first major fire in this town, plus multiple evacuations, FYI, and this is the reason most home insurers had left the town way before this last destructive fire. Not something realtors were telling you when you came up to look at homes there. How are they going to insure rebult homes and at what prices?

On another note...I drove by this area in September again and seen what appeared to be people living on their lots in large camping tents... I wonder if they visited or just live there like this.
I've seen empty cleared-out in-town lots of about 1/3 acres listed for 40K on MLS there now...it's crazy.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by opossum1

There's no point in rebuilding the town, this is insanity. OK, may be rebuilding only a small part that can be easily evacuated given very limited evacuation routes out of this area.

This is not the first major fire in this town, plus multiple evacuations, FYI, and this is the reason most home insurers had left the town way before this last destructive fire. Not something realtors were telling you when you came up to look at homes there. How are they going to insure rebult homes and at what prices?

On another note...I drove by this area in September again and seen what appeared to be people living on their lots in large camping tents... I wonder if they visited or just live there like this.
I've seen empty cleared-out in-town lots of about 1/3 acres listed for 40K on MLS there now...it's crazy.

I made the mistake of watching the documentary on the fire last month, while in CA during the Sonoma and SoCal area fires; I should have known better. Way to freak oneself out! But one thing that was discussed on it, is that the roads in and out were only one lane each way. There was a comment about how they should have been wider. To this, a local authority responded, that widening roads is very expensive, and wouldn't be justifiable (the expense), since the roads "as is" saw only light traffic most of the time. I don't recall if there was a comment about heavier traffic during commute hours, for people working outside of town.

I don't know about that issue; should all small towns have wider roads in case of emergency evacuations? Thinking about the issue, I recall a city planner I knew, who always groused loudly about how a new development just outside of town was only served by a two-lane road. She had pushed to make it wider, feeling it was impractical and unsafe to make it only two lanes. For one thing, shouldn't future growth be taken into account, when building roads?

It was horrible to see how people were trapped inside the fire, because the roads were clogged.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by opossum1

There's no point in rebuilding the town, this is insanity. OK, may be rebuilding only a small part that can be easily evacuated given very limited evacuation routes out of this area.

This is not the first major fire in this town, plus multiple evacuations, FYI, and this is the reason most home insurers had left the town way before this last destructive fire. Not something realtors were telling you when you came up to look at homes there. How are they going to insure rebult homes and at what prices?

On another note...I drove by this area in September again and seen what appeared to be people living on their lots in large camping tents... I wonder if they visited or just live there like this.
I've seen empty cleared-out in-town lots of about 1/3 acres listed for 40K on MLS there now...it's crazy.

Many towns and cities have had fires in the past, more than once and they have re-built. I think your view is very opinionated and negative. My parents lived in Paradise from the early 1970s until they left us for heaven in 2000 and mom in 2012. Never was there a bad fire while they lived there. This is like saying after the 1906 earthquake San Francisco should not have been re-built.

Of course realtors were not about to inform someone that a fire might come through someday and burn you out.

The only sensible statement you have made is the lack of evacuation exits

[opossum1]

There was no heavy traffic on Skyway (main road into Paradise/Magalia) or any other road, so there was not enough push to widen them, while the need for evacuation routes was completely ignored from the very start, as they kept issuing building permits. Of course they're cutting costs when they're building.
There's general overpopulation trend in California that justifies building wider roads, aside from any evac route needs... but where are they going to get the money? House construction will be more expensive then, being already sky-high... oh well here goes prop 13, LOL

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by opossum1

There was no heavy traffic on Skyway (main road into Paradise/Magalia) or any other road, so there was not enough push to widen them, while the need for evacuation routes was completely ignored from the very start, as they kept issuing building permits. Of course they're cutting costs when they're building.
There's general overpopulation trend in California that justifies building wider roads, aside from any evac route needs... but where are they going to get the money? House construction will be more expensive then, being already sky-high... oh well here goes prop 13, LOL

Thank you for your comment. This really speaks to the need to not play shell games with highway funds. Did I read recently, that Guv Gav reassigned some highway funds to another sector, or was that a different state? Is that even allowed in CA? I thought the budget had so many limits on it, that shuffling funds around wasn't possible, at least with some categories...?

[opossum1]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Thank you for your comment. This really speaks to the need to not play shell games with highway funds. Did I read recently, that Guv Gav reassigned some highway funds to another sector, or was that a different state? Is that even allowed in CA? I thought the budget had so many limits on it, that shuffling funds around wasn't possible, at least with some categories...?

Well in Paradise case it was county and city roads that were a factor...
Paradise had actually narrowed the main road from 4 to 2 lanes in "effort to boost commerce" earlier, apparently:
https://www.latimes.com/local/califo...120-story.html
Sad.

Paradise narrowed its main road by two lanes despite warnings of gridlock during a major wildfire

After a fast-moving fire swept into town a decade ago [2008], burning more than 200 homes and trapping thousands of fleeing residents on gridlocked mountain roads, a grand jury called on officials to improve evacuation routes.

But six years later, the city decided to narrow a portion of the main road through town from four lanes to two as part of an effort in the downtown area aimed at boosting commerce as well as traffic and pedestrian safety.

Two other roads in the city were also narrowed, records show.