It was frightening, and all too familiar. The family had previously been forced to flee as a wildfire bore down on another mountain town they called home: Paradise.
Now, with their path blocked and a horizon swallowed by flames, Kristy had an eerie feeling they were going to lose all they’d fought to build.
“I kind of knew then, like, we’re never coming home again — again, again,” she said.
The Camp fire, the deadliest in California history, devastated Paradise in 2018, consuming thousands of homes, including the Daneaus’.
They relocated to the town of Cohasset, putting them in the direct path of another wildfire, one that has since become the state’s fifth largest on record. Within just six years, the family again found themselves in jeopardy.
The trio eventually made it to safety, trekking seven hours down an unpaved loggers’ road to Chico. But their home in Cohasset was no match for an inferno’s fury.
“We’re starting completely over, again,” said Michael Daneau, 41. Every property they’ve ever owned has “burned to the ground with no value and nothing to our name.”
Yeah im sure they could just use their spare 2 million dollars they had sitting around after the Camp fire to buy a home in a safer area in northern California. Easy peasy.
You say this like it’s a joke but insurance is a thing.
It won’t be after repeat total losses, they’ll call it a dangerous area and exempt wildfire from coverage then offer a wildfire addendum for an exorbitant amount. At which point people will eventually sell and investors will move in to make everything low cost shitty multi family homes. It’ll be fun when they announce yet again that is PG&e not maintaining power lines.
If it gets people to move to more urban environments, that’s a win for everyone
I’m not a fan of urbanization so I can’t agree there, if we talk about medium density dispersed hub and spoke communities I’m with ya.
I like outside and while green walks and carless streets make it more bearable I’d still rather live on the edge with property to work.
Nah, the more urban the better. For the planet, I mean. Personally I like either middle of the woods or middle of the city, no in between. But urban consolidation is best for the health of the planet.
Density is key urbanism isn’t necessarily if public transit is fast and efficient and the industrial center high density.