Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

4 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

4 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
Chico Didn't Burn but Fire Brought New Way of Life
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 7, 2019

Share

CHICO — Amber Blood got to Chico on Nov. 8, 2018, wearing pink slacks and her favorite white peacoat. It was all she had left.

“You normally would have a decade to prepare for such growth. We had about 10 hours.” — Chico Police Chief Michael O’Brien
Blood was among tens of thousands forced to flee as a wildfire roared through Paradise and nearby communities in Northern California, killing 85 people and destroying roughly 19,000 buildings.
Nothing burned in Chico, the closest big city. And within hours, another city had moved in — filling up hotels, living in trailers, sleeping on friends’ couches and buying up every available home, apartment and spare room.
A year later, most are still there. State officials estimate Chico has added 20,000 people, boosting the population from 92,000 to more than 112,000. The city didn’t expect that number until at least 2030.
“We all feel lost, still,” said Blood, who has since bought a home in Chico. “This house is beautiful, and I don’t even feel like it is my home. It’s weird.”
What’s happened in Chico in the year since California’s deadliest wildfire shows how blazes — growing more frequent and destructive with climate change — have lasting effects far beyond the flames.
“You normally would have a decade to prepare for such growth,” Chico Police Chief Michael O’Brien said. “We had about 10 hours.”
Chico officials say they need close to half a billion dollars to improve infrastructure and hire enough police officers and firefighters to cover the surge in people. But because the city is outside the burn area, it isn’t eligible for most state and federal disaster funds. The most it’s gotten is $3 million from the Legislature.

The Effects Go Beyond Government Services

Aside from housing shortages and more traffic, the influx has strained the city in unexpected ways. About three weeks after the fire, Chico’s sewer system was handling an additional million gallons a day, or the equivalent of adding an extra 5,000 homes.
City officials had hoped the increase was temporary. But now, the system is handling an additional 600,000 gallons a day from fire survivors, costing an extra $53,000 per month. That’s money Chico doesn’t have.
City Manager Mark Orme says Chico will likely have to raise rates to pay for it.
“It’s one of the unanticipated consequences of being the friendly neighbor,” he said.
The effects go beyond government services. The region had four hospitals before the fire. But Feather River Hospital in Paradise closed and has not reopened. Since then, Enloe Medical Center in Chico has seen up to an extra 700 patients per month, according to Judy Cline, director of the emergency department.
The hospital has added seven around-the-clock nursing shifts to keep up, but it’s having trouble filling the positions because potential employees can’t find places to live.
“Our community is completely different than it once was, and it will always be completely different,” Cline said.
Even before the fire, Chico’s home sales vacancy rate was below 1%. Along with hospital workers and others, former Paradise residents have struggled to find a place to call home.

Photo of fire burning in Paradise, CA
The Camp Fire rages through Paradise, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018. Tens of thousands of people fled a fast-moving wildfire Thursday in Northern California, some clutching babies and pets as they abandoned vehicles and struck out on foot ahead of the flames that forced the evacuation of an entire town. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Gov. Newsom Signed a Law This Summer Designed to Speed up Construction

Laura Smith and her family had 2 acres in Paradise. Now, they live in a small apartment where the neighbors complain if you shut your door too hard. She dreams of moving back.
“We’re in Chico, but we’re Paradise residents,” Smith said. “There is something separate about us.”
It was even hard for Blood, a real estate agent in Paradise, to find somewhere for her and her children.
They lived in a cramped, two-bedroom apartment for months. It was unfurnished, but shopping was exhausting. The first thing she bought after the fire was an expensive fake plant because it was one of the few things left in the store.
When Blood finally bought a house a few months later from a woman who was moving overseas, she said she paid the seller an extra $7,000 to leave the furniture.
“We literally walked in, the house was ready to go,” Blood said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law this summer designed to speed up construction of new housing by temporarily suspending the state’s lengthy environmental review process for fire-affected areas. But the law does not include Chico because Mayor Randall Stone and most of the City Council opposed it.

The Mayor Said He Plans Other Actions to Address the Housing Crisis

Some residents were so angry they launched an effort to remove Stone and another councilman from office. Stone said he is “beyond confident” the recall won’t succeed, saying the state law would strip authority from local governments and was an attempt by Republican lawmakers to dodge environmental protections.

“We didn’t literally have fire on our homes in this community, but we’re impacted by it. We’re all burdens on each other.”  Mayor Randall Stone 
The mayor said he plans other actions to address the housing crisis, including adjusting fees for developers so they build more affordable housing. He said he was proud of Chico for coming together to help.
“We didn’t literally have fire on our homes in this community, but we’re impacted by it,” Stone said. “We’re all burdens on each other.”
The recall has added to tension in the community, compounded by small things like longer wait times at restaurants and heavier traffic.
But Chico residents are careful when they complain, said Katy Thoma, president and CEO of the Chico Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re trying to be sensitive to the people in Paradise who lost everything,” Thoma said. “Chico is a real friendly, warm town, and it’s the kind of town where you don’t honk at people when the light turns green. You let people in. There seems to be less of that.”
All of these are signs of a city getting to know itself.
“I don’t think we know what the new normal is,” said Alexa Benson-Valavanis, executive director of the Chico-based North Valley Community Foundation, which has given $27 million in grants since the fire. “But we’re figuring out how to take care of everybody here. I think we have a heart and a will to do that.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 35,000 Acres, More Evacuations Ordered

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

UP NEXT

CHP Officer Dies in Line of Duty After Medical Emergency While on Patrol

UP NEXT

Downtown Housing Could Rise in Many California Cities, but Barriers Remain

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

UP NEXT

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

12 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

18 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

18 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

18 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

18 hours ago

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

18 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

18 hours ago

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

19 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

2 days ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

2 days ago

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the United States ahead of a planned sale of the app to a group of investors, The I...

11 hours ago

A logo is displayed over a door at the U.S. headquarters of the social media company TikTok in Culver City, California, U.S. January 17, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 hours ago

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

Boxes of aid are stacked as Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it has commenced operations to begin distribution of aid, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

A volunteer searches for flood victims after deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Sergio Flores
12 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk listens as US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 13, 2024. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

A 22-year-old suspected DUI driver crashed into a parked CHP motorcycle and tow truck on Highway 99 near Fresno, narrowly missing an officer and bystanders, CHP said Saturday, July 5, 2025. (CHP)
18 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

A service member of a drone unit of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces controls a heavy combat drone while it flies over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
18 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 6, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
18 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned nearly 80,000 acres as of Sunday, July 6, 2025, morning, prompting widespread evacuation orders and warnings across three counties. (CalFire)
18 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend