OROVILLE, Calif. — The process of removing debris and cleaning up has begun for areas hit by the devastating Camp Fire wildfire in Butte County.
There is an estimated 5,341,362 tons of debris from destroyed homes and business, according to ARCADIS, a state-hired contractor who conducted the assessment. Debris that will need to be cleared includes metal, ash, concrete and contaminated soil.
Some 300 vehicles were brought to the Odin Metal Processing Facility in Oroville to be crushed and recycled, according to Neal Siller. The company has been contracted with the state to clear thousands of vehicles destroyed by the Camp Fire.
Debris removal teams are tagging vehicles so the state can track from which property the vehicles were found. The California Highway Patrol is working onsite clearing vehicle identification numbers.
Siller said the situation is devastating. Many of his crew members lost their homes during the Camp Fire. Now they are helping with debris clean up.
Recent storms have dampened the cleanup process this week, Siller said. Work should go back to normal in the next week or two when the weather clears.
“So many vehicles with what appear to be sad and agonizing looks knowing that, after this, they will be returned to molten steel,” Gonzalo Curiel wrote on Facebook. Curiel drove past the site and stopped to take photos.
Debris removal teams have tallied 5,827 destroyed vehicles that will need to be removed, according to Lance Klug, a spokesperson for CalRecycle. Those vehicles were surveyed from 3,794 properties where owners have signed Right of Entry (ROE) forms, which allow state contractors to enter the site and clear debris.
The overall number of destroyed vehicles is likely to rise as crews survey more properties, Klug said. CalRecycle has received about 11,000 signed ROE forms.
The Anderson Landfill and Recology Ostrom are contracted to accept landfill materials. Granite Construction and Franklin Construction are contracted to accept concrete.
The entire debris removal process for the Camp Fire area is expected to last a year.
Continue the conversation with Giacomo on Facebook.
________________________________________________________________