Friday marked six years since the Camp Fire devastated Paradise, Magalia, Concow and other Butte County communities.
NSPR has been speaking with those working in recovery. Teri Rubiolo is a Concow resident who has been helping support her community.
Rubiolo has provided food, clothes and other necessities to her community in the wake of the disaster. She said rural communities are still in need of support.
“Six years into it, Concow, Yankee Hill, Big Bend, the smaller, rural areas, are still really struggling. It’s really hard to get some help,” Rubiolo said. “And we’re so grateful for the donations that still come in. I know that there’s disasters and hardship everywhere, but if you got a spare blanket, trust me, we got people that can use it.”
Housing remains one of the main challenges to recovery.
“We’re still in the process of trying to locate help for people, because we still have people in cars and trailers that leak or things don’t work.” Rubiolo said. “Growth has been small, rebuilding has been little in Concow.”
Rubiolo said many survivors have been living in trailers on their property but are running out of time. County regulations allow property owners affected by the Camp Fire to occupy a trailer on their land until April of 2025.
It is important to be patient with the recovery process and continue to support survivors in the more rural areas of the county. “I'm just grateful that we still have a voice, ” Rubiolo said. “It's just nice not to be forgotten.”
