Bear Fire

Artists and musicians from the Fire and Music Project joined volunteers at a pile burn hosted by the Butte Prescribed Burn Association last month. See photos and hear an audio postcard from that day.

In rural Butte County, wildfire survivors who moved into RVs after their homes burned down face a deadline to rebuild or relocate. But affordable housing is hard to find in the burn scar.

There are payment plans for electricity, phone and healthcare bills, but not for rebuilding permits if you’re a wildfire survivor. Butte County is looking into changing that, maybe by the start of the year. Also, some landowners in Butte County are currently voting on the formation of the controversial Tuscan Water District, and the Chico City Council meets tonight to discuss whether sewer assessments for new connections should be collected on the tax roll and the effects of a new bill that increases the limits for city councilors’ compensation.

Berry Creek residents are celebrating the recent Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimous decision to give Bear Fire survivors an additional 18 months to live in RVs and trailers on their properties, but some in the burn scar still have concerns about the price of permits and the rebuilding process.

The Butte County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to extend an ordinance by 18 months that allows Bear Fire or North Complex survivors to live in RVs and trailers on their properties. But there’s a caveat: dry camping, which is camping without a permanent source of running water, will only be legal in the area for another six months. Also, on Monday, the California Public Utilities Commission announced it could be hitting PG&E with another fine, this time, for causing the massive Dixie Fire, and new study shows wildfire smoke is correlated with higher suicide rates in rural America.

Dozens affected by the Bear Fire or North Complex gathered Friday evening (Sept. 22) to address the looming expiration of permits that allow them to live in RVs and trailers on their properties. NSPR’s Erik Adams reports.

Dozens affected by the Bear Fire or North Complex gathered Friday to address the looming expiration of permits that allow them to live in RVs and trailers on their properties. Also, the Butte County Board of Supervisors will once again discuss how to continue funding for libraries at their meeting today, and California’s new insurance deal covers all of California but allows insurers to use catastrophe modeling to set insurance premiums and to pass on reinsurance fees to consumers.

At the end of the year, it could be illegal for survivors of the Bear Fire, later known as the North Complex, to live in RVs if they aren’t actively rebuilding. An ordinance that allowed people to do so is set to expire this December.

At the end of the year, it could be illegal for survivors of the Bear Fire or North Complex, to live in RVs if they aren’t actively rebuilding. Experts say the stress of possible evictions could hurt survivors’ health. Also, PG&E could be shutting off power to more than 4,000 customers in the northern Sacramento Valley and surrounding foothills due to critical fire weather conditions, and Plumas County has replaced its CodeRED emergency alert system with a new one called Genasys Emergency Management (GEM).

Feather Falls community reunites on the three-year anniversary of the Bear Fire, later known as the North Complex, which leveled the communities of Berry Creek and Feather Falls.