An ordinance that allows Bear Fire or North Complex survivors to live in trailers and RVs on their properties has been extended an additional 18 months.
It’s good news for many Bear Fire survivors, an estimated dozens to hundreds of whom still live in RVs and trailers.
The Butte County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously earlier this week, Tuesday, Oct. 10, on an emergency amendment giving survivors until June 2025 to stay on their land. The original ordinance expiration date was Dec. 31.
Donna Howell lives in an RV in the Bear Fire burn scar community of Berry Creek. Howell told NSPR last month she was terrified of eviction. Now she doesn’t have to stress about finding a new place to live by the end of the year.
"How do we put guidelines on RVs and campers? Paradise ended up with a big mess of campers. How are we gonna avoid that?”– Bill Connelly, District 1 Butte County supervisor
“I’m thrilled. I’m so thankful,” Howell said about the extension.
Community organizer Tyyler Burrett said the vote was a result of pressure from Bear Fire survivors.
“The only reason they [voted for the extension] is because everyone showed up there,” Burrett said.
Survivors with picket signs helped pack the audience chambers at Tuesday’s meeting. Public comments were made by more than a dozen Berry Creek residents and advocates.
What was originally proposed as a six-month extension became 18 months after the board heard public comment and discussed options.
The extension came with a caveat: in June of 2024, dry camping — which is camping without a permanent source of running water, like a well — will end.
The stipulation was brought forth by Supervisor Bill Connelly, who represents communities in the Bear Fire burn scar.
"This ordinance is further traumatizing survivors. It's furthering a sense of fear. It’s sending a message of who is really considered important in this community and who you really care about."– Simona Gallegos, disaster case manager
”How do we put guidelines on RVs and campers?” Connelly asked the board. “Paradise ended up with a big mess of campers. How are we gonna avoid that?”
Supervisor Doug Teeter, who represents many communities in the Camp Fire burn scar, highlighted challenges keeping survivors from cooperating with the ordinance. He said if the board needed more time to figure out solutions, then campers also deserved more time.
The sentiment was shared by many in the audience.
“This ordinance is further traumatizing survivors. It's furthering a sense of fear,” Simona Gallegos, a disaster case manager, told board members. “It’s sending a message of who is really considered important in this community and who you really care about.”
Supervisor Tami Ritter agreed. She said the ordinance was offensive and also called the requirement that RVs in the burn scar be no older than 10 years discriminatory toward the poor.
Bear Fire survivors say more help needed
Many residents were glad to see the board approve the extension, but hope to see additional assistance, particularly with paying permit fees and getting more education about the rebuilding process.
Residents like Matthew Trumm called the decision a “good start,” but would like to see easier methods for getting ahead with building, like discounts on permit fees or a payment plan option based on income.
"I think that over the next 18 months, we as a community need to be actively pursuing these answers ... so that at the end of this 18-month period, we're not all sitting around asking these same questions."– Jennifer Phillips, Berry Creek resident
“I think those are all things that would help us get compliant,” Trumm said. “If we had a payment plan for the fees. I mean, people would all probably sign up and get their permits tomorrow.”
Jennifer Phillips introduced the idea of payment plans at a community meeting in September. She called the extension a “huge relief” but is unsure about what’s to come within the extra 18 months.
“There's still so much on this topic that needs to be addressed,” Phillips said. “I think that over the next 18 months, we as a community need to be actively pursuing these answers and trying to sort all of it out so that at the end of this 18-month period, we're not all sitting around asking these same questions.”
Rallying for recovery
It’s not the first time Bear Fire survivors have fought decisions by the Butte County Board of Supervisors.
Survivors have been organizing around the RV ordinance for at least a month.
Fred Wright, who has lived in Berry Creek for 57 years, put together a last-minute demonstration at the Butte County Courthouse in Oroville the day before the board meeting.
Weeks before that, several residents traveled to the Sept. 26 board meeting to make public comments about their concerns surrounding the ordinance, despite no mention of it on the agenda.
Others made phone calls, sent public comments online and attended community meetings in Berry Creek on the issue.
[They’re] trying to screw us in the mountains, and thinking that we won't notice. And when we notice, and we protest, they backpedal.– Tyyler Burrett, Berry Creek resident
Separately, last winter, the board quietly voted for the seasonal closure of a volunteer fire station in Berry Creek. Survivors protested until the board voted to fund the station again.
Tyyler Burrett said it feels like the county keeps rolling back fire survivors’ basic needs and reinstating them when met with outrage.
“It just seems like they're making a habit of doing this,” Burrett said. “[They’re] trying to screw us in the mountains, and thinking that we won't notice. And when we notice, and we protest, they backpedal.”
Burrett said he expects to have to fight for an extension to the ordinance again in 2025. That pattern of protest, he said, makes him think the county just doesn’t care about his community.
