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During a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 28, representatives from FEMA and Cal OES addressed frustrations over the lack of housing options for Camp Fire survivors.
Weeks after the Camp Fire first broke out in Butte County and many families are still struggling to find some form of reliable housing. Briefly, a small community formed at a Walmart in Chico, which spoke to the homeless crisis rising in the wake of the Camp Fire. For many, the only option was to sleep in tents and cars, braving the cold.
The community of the newly homeless that congregated in the Walmart parking lot were asked to leave on Sunday, Nov. 18, amid health and safety concerns. After losing everything, many cannot afford hotels or motels, and shelters quickly filled to accommodate the masses of people evacuating affected areas.
Deputy Director for Cal OES Tina Curry, says that finding shelter for survivors is the priority, but that the focus has been to support communities as they deal with the immediate response of evacuating unsafe areas and filling shelters.
“Hopefully now, [we will be] moving into something that is transitioning from that, whether it be hotels, the program that FEMA will be providing, or something that is a little more permanent than a shelter environment,” Curry said.
Regardless, there’s not one person in a trailer - despite the fact that putting a family in temporary housing in an RV or trailer park typically takes less than one week.
Trailers and RVs offer an easy, but short-lived option for those who are in need of housing. Toney Raines, emergency management program senior at FEMA, is hoping that the first of these short-term options will be brought on line by this week.
Manufactured Housing Units, or MHUs, are currently under consideration for long-term housing options. However, it can take up to four months to complete the necessary infrastructure for group sites.
Raines says that there could be as many as 2,000 housing units that need to be built. Of course, that number could go high or lower as the effort to place people gains momentum.
Communities affected by the Camp Fire might not have to wait too long to see construction on some of these long-term housing options. Already, FEMA has identified several potential properties.
“To date, 28 sites have been inspected,” Raines said. “17 were found to be feasible, six are not feasible and five have potential. We are going back to look at them. They are potentially feasible, and […] we do have more on the list to go," he said. "We have been looking at those every day since our presence here with the state and our federal partners.”
There is much to consider before the agency can begin projects in areas devastated by the disaster. Finding a suitable site is just the first of many steps.
Once sites are identified, FEMA does a site drawing and presents it to state and county partners. These partners then need to approve the site based on whether the project is feasible on a state and local level. Above all, the plans must meet the needs of the community.
“We want to make sure that we don’t create a second problem area by moving large numbers of people around or by moving them to an area that cannot support them,” Raines said.
Officials are looking for sites with social services like schools, fire and police departments and medical facilities.
Location also plays a role, as the distance that a site has from an area destroyed by the Camp Fire could have a substantial effect on the people attempting to rebuild their lives. For those who have evacuated their homes, proximity to their town is a necessity for continued access to jobs, businesses, and properties.
Raines also explained how distance from former homes could hinder the emotional recovery of Camp Fire survivors.
“It is our goal not to move people away from the town of Paradise," Raines said. " We know that is going to restrict their capability to recover."
For assistance and explanations, visit buttecountyrecovers.org.
Editor's note: The headline of this story was changed to add "yet" to make it more clear that there are currently not trailers but some should be on the way.
For more on the Camp Fire recovery efforts, check out the video below: