A deadly fire in California could worsen the homelessness crisis in the state

Jeff Hill lost his home and everything he owned in the camp fire, which, according to authorities, destroyed up to 90% of the housing stock in the city of Paradise, in California.

His employer, the Paradise Irrigation District, told him, as well as his colleagues, that they would be unemployed in the near future, as it would take weeks, if not months, to get the service back on track. after the destruction of most of the city's infrastructure.

Hill and thousands of other evacuees without a pay check or permanent residence are at risk of homelessness.

"At this point, I take it on a day-to-day basis," said Hill, 29, who lived with relatives in the nearby town of Chico. "There are no more shops, no restaurants, nothing, if people wanted to live there, there was nowhere to eat, no water or electricity, it's not even habitable. It's like we're back a hundred years, it's just crazy. "

Brock Long, a director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told reporters Wednesday that losses in Paradise, with a population of 26,682 residents, were "total."

The disaster in Butte County, which killed at least 56 people, comes as California faces a severe housing crisis and nearly half of the country's unprotected population lives in cars, parks and street.

Even if poor survivors receive federal and state aid to pay rent, there is no guarantee that they will be able to find a place in the Golden State.

"The housing crisis hit us hard like everywhere else," said Sarah Thomas, Program Manager at the Chico Housing Action Team, a non-profit organization. "The vacancy rate in Chico is about 1% Now that we have lost all these houses in paradise, there will be more and more people who are struggling to find housing."

Despite the fact that about one in five Californians lives in poverty, the median value of homes in the state is $ 544,900 and the median two-bedroom rent is $ 2,750, according to the website. Zillow real estate agency.

Before the fire, on November 8, thousands of low-income workers and retirees fled to paradise, where the median home price is $ 200,900, according to data from the US Census Bureau.

"Heaven is not the richest city," said evacuee Danie Schwartz, whose house was spared. "I'm from southern California, which is also in flames, but it's as if people were worried that their beach houses would burn, the circumstances are a little different from those in Paradise.

"People in heaven can not afford to get out of the city," she said. "People are stuck in evacuation shelters."

Evacuees set up tents on parking lots, including at a Chico Walmart store, while others sleep in a car or stay with their family. Hill said that no less than 20 members of his family lived in a house because they had also lost their home in paradise.

"What is staggering is to hear family after family:" We have several members who have lost their homes, "said Laura Cootsona, Executive Director of Jesus Center, a non-profit organization for childcare services. 39, helping homeless people in Chico.

Karman Beller, 33, six months pregnant, and her husband Ryan Beller, 30, lost their home and had no tenant insurance. They plan to stay with a brother-in-law who has welcomed four other relatives displaced by the fire.

"I'm expected in three and a half months," said Beller. "Try to find a house with [no] funding is really impossible. Everyone is homeless. "

Chico is the largest town in Butte County, but its shelters are usually full, even without 10,321 structures destroyed in paradise.

Richard A. Narad, operations manager for Chico's Safe Space Winter Shelter program, adding 60 beds to the city's shelter inventory for 12 weeks starting in mid-December, said last year the program "returned people every night".

"We already had a housing shortage in the county," he said. "We expect some people to end up on the street, that will be a big problem until they realize it, and I guess caravans for RVs will be needed. I do not think there are enough hotel rooms. "

Joy Amaro, executive director of the Torres Shelter Center, said that there were generally fewer than 250 beds in Chico, although the American Red Cross has opened four temporary shelters in response to the problem. camp fire.

Two of these people were immediately in power, said a spokesman for the Red Cross. Butte County officials said 1,385 evacuees were living in temporary shelters.

FEMA has promised to provide assistance to qualified displaced residents – assistance of up to three months for homeowners and at least one month for tenants.

"We have the funds, and we will help in any way possible," Governor Jerry Brown said Wednesday.

FEMA's director, Long, said he met Wednesday with President Donald Trump. His message is to take care of people – that's exactly what we are here to do. "

In Oroville, a city south of paradise, at least 200 evacuees settled on a parking lot last week. Tracy Grant went there to distribute hamburgers that she prepared for them. She met Lee Brundige, a 93-year-old Second World War veteran and a widower who lived alone in paradise.

"I had an instant connection with him, being a grandfather's daughter myself," she said.

So she and her husband took it. "He's all alone with just his clothes," said Grant.

She does not know how Brundige will continue without becoming homeless. She thinks that she needs to be in an assisted living center, but she is not sure she has the resources.

The veteran escaped with his cane and vehicle on November 8, driving in a line of conga cars to the parking lot at Oroville. Nearly a week later, he still did not know that his house had been lost.

"We had confirmation this morning that he's gone," Grant said Wednesday. "I have not said it yet."

Dennis Romero

Dennis Romero is a freelance journalist based in Los Angeles.

Jareen Imam and Stephan Kozub contributed.