Six years have passed since the Camp Fire was sparked by a poorly maintained PG&E transmission line. Paradise was almost completely destroyed. The neighboring communities of Concow, Magalia and Butte Creek Canyon were also devastated.
Today it is known as the deadliest wildfire in California history.
NSPR’s Ken Devol spoke with Bruce Yerman, the director of the Camp Fire Collaborative, an organization which has been working towards recovery for the past six years. He said that the lessons learned in the process of rebuilding will be applicable elsewhere.
“What I don’t think the outside community realizes,” Yerman said, “is just how cutting edge this area is in terms of recovering from disaster.”
Yerman added that one of the case management agencies that supported Camp Fire survivors was recently flown out to North Carolina where they helped set up case management services for survivors of Hurricane Helene.
He said that housing displaced victims is one of the most pressing challenges in recovery, with many Camp Fire survivors still camping on their property.
Repeated trauma is another challenge that complicates the recovery process. Yerman said there have been a handful of people who were displaced under the Park Fire who were still recovering from the Camp Fire. These families and individuals were invited back into the collaborative, which supports fire survivors in as many ways as possible.
“The Camp Fire Collaborative focuses on individuals and their unmet needs,” Yerman said. “Unmet needs are defined as, after they've done everything possible and looked in every nook and cranny, if the only way that they can recover and meet their plan is with just a little bit of help, then that's where we come in.”
Even though there are still a lot of unmet needs, Yerman said he is optimistic and grateful for the support of the surrounding community.
“There's no way we could be where we are without the support of people in all of Butte County and the patience of people in all of Butte County, and I feel that our community is connected like it's never been before.”
