Thousands of properties hit by summer 2020 fires cleared of debris

State contractors have cleared metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil from 1,395 properties affected by last August and September’s California wildfires whose owners have opted into the state’s no-cost debris removal program.

Known as the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program, participating property owners can utilize this no direct-cost service to help rebuild. The state hires the contractors, who conduct all site and asbestos assessments, as well as asbestos abatements, if needed.

State contractors remove any burned metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil, as well as burned trees deemed hazardous. The program also includes soil sampling and analysis, as well as erosion control.

This program is a partnership with the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (Calrecycle) and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), working with local officials in the 28 affected counties.

In addition to the cleared properties, state contractors have completed 3,184 site assessments, nearly 3,100 asbestos assessments and 1,079 asbestos abatements.

Contractors also have finished implementing erosion control measures on from 150 of the cleared properties whose soil samples met state environmental health and safety standards during testing and analysis by a state-certified laboratory. State debris officials have signed off on and returned 117 cleared properties to their respective counties.

Debris removal is a critical component of the recovery process for property owners. Rebuilding cannot begin until any fire debris and hazardous trees are removed from an affected property.

Wildfire survivors participating in the Consolidated Debris Removal Program can access an informational dashboard that provides details of the cleanup progress.

This Debris Operations Dashboard for the 2020 statewide wildfires is updated every hour and provides users with the ability to sort by branch or county via the filters at the top of the page. Users can also search by address via the magnifying glass icon at the top of the map to learn of the debris removal status of their property.

In August alone, the fires impacted 18 counties statewide, then in September, another 10 counties, with a total of 4.1 million acres burned.

Even with record-breaking numbers, cleanup crews are continuing to make progress.

Recovery resources are available at wildfirerecovery.ca.gov where property owners can find direct links to county ROE forms, contact information for each affected county, as well as additional information about the state’s consolidated debris removal program.