Town Council holds meeting, discusses how to recover.
CHICO, Butte County — It had been only five days, and the Camp Fire was still burning, but life had to move on. So on Tuesday night, the Paradise Town Council met.
Not in its own chambers at its own Town Hall — which is smoke-damaged — but a few miles away at Chico City Hall, where a white sticker was smoothed onto a first-floor office door that read: “Paradise Town Hall.”
The five council members are in exile: without homes, without a workplace, without email, even, because the town’s server was down.
But the meeting agenda had been set last Wednesday, a day before the worst wildfire in state history leveled the Butte County town of Paradise, and the town’s leaders found themselves caught in the in-between. About 40 people — some of them Paradise residents — sat in the audience.
The first item on the agenda: a proclamation to recognize November as National Runaway Prevention Month.
“There is some town business that the council needs to handle,” said Mayor Jody Jones, who also sits on the council. “So I apologize for the mundane in the midst of tragedy.”
Town Clerk Dina Volenski soon spoke: “The next item is an update on road projects,” she said. “Is this something we still want to do?”
Everyone shook their heads. There were bigger projects to discuss now. So that’s what they did.
Like how to move forward, when the entire town was still evacuated — and mostly gone. Only PG&E trucks, Cal Fire rigs and the occasional news van rolled through Paradise’s streets, barely pausing at stop signs, because there was no other traffic. But the Town Council had to start somewhere, and that meant discussing questions that still have no answers.
Like, how will teachers keep teaching their classes? Where will short- and long-term housing come from while everyone rebuilds? When will the debris be cleared? It had been only five days, and no one knew. Maybe they should have another community meeting — Thursday?
“We are going to post news on the town Facebook page. Could you spread the word?” said Town Manager Lauren Gill, turning to a smattering of news anchors clustered in the corner. “Maybe called Paradise Recovers? Paradise Rebuilds? It will take 24 hours to get that up.”
They want to plan a Thanksgiving celebration, and a banquet for first responders. They want a community vigil, too, to mourn their losses and grieve those who had passed. The problem is, search-and-recovery teams are still pulling bodies from the rubble. Six more were found Tuesday, bringing the total to 48.
There was a moment of silence, and everyone bent their heads. Councilman Greg Bolin prayed: for families who had lost loved ones and needed peace, for first responders who had braved the fire, for those still fighting back the blaze. Keep them safe, he asked; shroud them in protection.
Then officials wearing jackets with acronyms for federal agencies printed on their backs spoke into the chamber’s microphone. They assured the council that they were on the same team.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” said Kevin Hannes, a Federal Emergency Management Agency official. “We are not here to be in charge or take over. We are here to support. We are committed to being here with you.”
When the officials were done, everyone clapped.
Residents spoke, too. They had survived so much, and they spoke because they needed someone to listen to what they had been through, even for three minutes. Like Ward Habriel, 72, who had lived on Pentz Road with his wife, Cheryl, 71. He wore a blue “Love Paradise” hat, embroidered with a red heart.
“Do you still love Paradise?” he said. “Of course. Paradise is not several thousand acres of charcoal. It’s about people. We have a certain spirit. I don’t think tonight is a good night for gripes. Maybe some of the buildings and roads you didn’t like. But the community is made up of people, not specific things.”
It took less than an hour, and then Jones adjourned the meeting. There wasn’t much the Town Council could do for a town that barely exists.