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.”
Perhaps the next house they won’t build in a fire-prone area. But I doubt it.
That’s a lot easier said than done. There’s a reason property in that area is relatively more affordable than in other parts of the state.
That’s some great arm-chair criticism right there.
“You just suffered the second tragedy of your life? Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure the next one will be your fault too.”
Show a little empathy.
You can be empathetic for their plight while recognizing that their decisions lead to a repeat of a disaster.
Yes, but you cannot pretend that is an easy decision, or even a feasible one for most folks.
Why would they move from Paradise to another town so close by? Is it because they’re idiots?
Doubt it. I’ll bet their livelihood is tied to that area, quite possibly generationally. How feasible do you think it is for members of the Paradise farming community to uproot and move to a new location?
Their entire lives are rooted in that community. Leaving it could be as disastrous as the fire. They’re recovery is likely tacked into that very community, all trying rebuild as best as possible.
That is quite likely a reality here & everyone in this thread wants to treat these poor folks like idiots.
But sure… blame their “decisions”. Blame the entire town for not getting out of the way of climate change.
It’s not like fires in California are a new phenomenon. The first one wasn’t their fault, sure. The second has shown them the risk and frequency of fires in the area they live. If they rebuild there again then yes, the consequences of any more fire damage or loss of property are completely their fault.
It’s not that easy. They don’t have much money, and that’s why they were living where they were. The city nearby where everyone works became too expensive after the Camp Fire (rent has almost doubled) and then COVID. It’s really hard. They would’ve had to start over completely somewhere else without nearby family, friends, or their jobs. It’s just not that simple. Towns burning down is a pretty recent recurrence.
You got a family? You got a big family? Aunts, Uncles, cousins? Do you blame them when a natural disaster destroys their home & they choose to rebuild near their loved ones?
You sure don’t seem very kind if you think it’s ok to blame people for being in the paths of natural disasters.
When you lose your entire life, you tend to want to get some of it back. Staying in the same area, where, you know… you may have friends, family, a church, a school, a community, is one way to lighten that blow.
You sure do like swinging your judgements around like you’ve got this shit figured out.
Tell us, oh wise grand housing wizard, where have you built your un-destroyable, natural disaster proof house? Please, by all means, educate us with your infallible logic!
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.
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.
