Many campers evacuate lower park
City gave 72-hour notices for different parts of Bidwell Park
Many campers in Chico’s lower Bidwell Park scattered by Friday, as Chico Police Department warnings of city sweeps in the park increased.
Police gave varying messages to campers of when to move their belongings before enforcement operations by city staff arrived. Campers received updated 72-hour notices to leave 4 p.m. Monday, and others further east past the Highway 99 overpass in Bidwell Park were given notice by 11 a.m. Tuesday.
A crowd gathered under the Highway 99 overpass (a Caltrans property) by Vallombrosa and Sheridan avenues early Friday morning, in anticipation of when notices were set to expire — by which time many campers had already left the area.
Staying in place
A variety of campers say they are trying to find a way to stay in Butte County if possible. Shaon Jones said Thursday she has lived in the area 52 years, having lived and worked in Magalia before becoming unsheltered, and said she is anxious to find a way to a roof over her head.
“Some people don’t mind (living) like this. But I don’t like this at all,” she said. “I’ve (got) no idea where to go from here.”
Butte County Behavioral Health Clinician Amanda Wilkins said, “A lot of the homeless population here (in Chico), a lot were pushed out from the Camp Fire.”
“After the fi re, I saw a large inf lux of homeless people within the community. There’s clients I’ve worked with who had housing and afterward were living on the streets because they couldn’t get into any housing. That impacts mental health even more, (with) an increase in people needing mental health services.”
Several who say they are Camp Fire survivors thought they would have to leave by Thursday.
The day after he received his notice from police to vacate where he had placed his tent, Camp Fire survivor David Ranier said he had no idea where he might go next. He said he and nearby neighbors had not heard from police or park rangers for some time, up until the notice was given.
Clasping his hands on a park bench, Ranier sat under the Redwood trees in lower Bidwell Park on Tuesday and remembered life as a drifter, and later in Paradise. He said he moved to the town in 1988, and left the day of the fire.
“I’m here in Chico because of the fire, due to everything I had worked for and had planned on doing again … all went up in flames,” he said. “The family got dispersed; … they all went their own direction, I guess.”
He’s been homeless several times in his life, most recently since December 2019.
“I first hit the road when I was 15,” Ranier said.
“There’s a lot of diversity out here and the dynamics have changed greatly.
“I’ve been asked to move, followed and then asked to move again,” he said. “They usually wait till you fall asleep.”
James Justin Jewkes said he also lost his home in the Camp Fire, on Castle Drive in Paradise, and said despite having insurance, he received only $250 from California State Firefi ghters Association and $200 from United Way of Northern California. He has been homeless since the fire, and said his registered service dog made it even more difficult to find a residence to rent afterward.
Jewkes said park rangers gave him only 72 hours’ notice to leave the park and has no idea where he will go next once he moves his camp.
“I’m from the hills, I like it best up there,” he said. “You can keep your flat land. I’m trying to get back up there. It ain’t worked out, you know? It’s been a rough road.”
Richard Munzer said police with the Target Team and a park ranger had been communicating and giving notices to him and other campers. He added he has been homeless multiple times despite being employed at various vocations, and he thinks he will continue to struggle to find work if he has nowhere secure to put his belongings and supplies.
“This isn’t about methamphetamine,” he said. “This is about rebuilding a life that was lost.
“What do I do with all my different (hand) tools?” He said when the camps are swept and property is subsequently taken to the Police Department, it takes many days to retrieve it and it will leave him without any more than a sleeping bag for at least four days.
“Four days out here in the winter, that’s nasty,” he said.
On Friday morning, as few others remained under the overpass, James Harris was one of those still attempting to pack up his tent.
“I’m just seeing where everybody else goes,” he said.
Nearby, James Snyder, who said he’s lived in Chico nine years with decades of residing in Butte County, said he is tired of being moved to insecure locations and plans to stand his ground if police officers return.
Based on multiple campers’ notices, each person will have 90 days to retrieve property taken from their campsite to Chico Police Department’s evidence section and must make an appointment to enter the facility.