Red Cross shelter evacuees struggle with urgent needs A writer asks if Camp Fire changed attitudes toward climate change

by Denise Minor

The sky was growing dark by the time I checked in at the Red Cross station on a recent afternoon, in front of the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico. Two volunteers in red vests greeted me and welcomed me to the shelter for Camp Fire evacuees.

photo by Denise Minor

Red Cross Communications Director Stephen Walsh offered to show me around. On that night there were about 700 people staying at the shelter, with some living in their recreational vehicles in the parking lot, some living in a tent city behind the RVs and some living in the three dormitories. All six of the Red Cross shelters that had been opened right after the fire had by then been consolidated to this one.

Walsh asked me about the story I was writing. I told him that I wanted to ask people whether they now blamed climate change for the intensity of the inferno that had destroyed their homes and, perhaps, taken the lives of loved ones.

“It’s too early to ask that question,” Walsh said. “The people here are despondent and angry. They had no insurance, they lost everything and all they can think about are their immediate needs.”

I began to rethink the way I would handle the interview, what it would be possible to talk about and look for during this visit.

The infamous November Camp Fire in Northern California, I imagined, indelibly changed those who lost homes, schools, jobs and family members. Over a month after the fire, however, I couldn’t help but wonder if it also changed the way some evacuees were thinking about climate change.

Polls show that while most Americans favor action to slow climate change, resistance comes primarily from a sector of the Republican Party. Those voters believe that the impact of human-caused climate change has been exaggerated or may even be non-existent.

And in Paradise, most voters still favor Republican candidates. In November, 61.5 percent of voters threw their support to incumbent Congressman Doug LaMalfa, a Republican. In the 2016 election, almost 62 percent voted for President Donald Trump.

******

Along the pathways inside the shelter stood men, mostly alone, smoking cigarettes. In the dusk punctuated by beams of street lights, their faces were obscured by the shadows of their brimmed caps and cowboy hats.

We first visited the women’s dormitory, a large, cavernous building where the double front doors stood wide open and two Red Cross volunteers sat at a table checking in visitors. The room was very cold, but I hoped that it warmed up at night with the doors shut.

Along both side walls, metal cots were lined up about 2 feet from each other. Some women were napping, others reading. Down the center were two rows of cots adjacent to one another. “We were going to leave the aisle empty but there were too many people needing beds,” Walsh explained.

I imagined how difficult it would be to sleep with so many people snoring, coughing and getting up to go to the bathroom in the night. These women, I realized, had no friends or family to take them in. If they had been able to afford a room rental, they wouldn’t be staying here.

Onward we went to the men’s dormitory, which was almost identical. Nearby were rows of outhouses and a freight truck with its tailgate down, revealing a row of whirring washers and dryers inside the container. Beyond the truck was a dog park, and beyond that a large building where the pets were sheltered under the direction of volunteers who had taken on responsibility for animal welfare.

Inside the cages stacked in rows were hundreds of animals, the majority of them dogs.

“I want to work, but I lost all my tools” — Red Cross shelter occupant.

As we headed to the dining room, a man who appeared agitated approached Walsh and asked him about financial assistance. In his large hand with calloused knuckles he clutched a wad of white, yellow and pink papers. “I got all the paperwork. I need to talk to somebody about financial assistance,” he stated.

Walsh gave him the name of the person in charge and said he would assist if he couldn’t find her. “I want to work,” said the man, the anxious tone of his voice turning into a plea. “I want to work, but I lost all my tools.”

This man had more immediate needs than a discussion about the 1,600-page report released by the White House on one of the year’s slowest news days — the day after Thanksgiving. Yet, the National Climate Assessment report explains, at least in part, how a California wildfire came to destroy this man’s belongings and livelihood.

The report represented the cumulative findings of top scientists in 13 federal agencies and predicted devastating effects of global warming over the next two decades. It forecasts widespread and uncontrollable fires in California, crop failures in the Midwest, the loss of land in the East from rising sea levels, extensive infrastructure damage and heat-related deaths.

The man turned and disappeared into the darkness.

*****

Inside the dining hall were about 20 people sitting at the picnic tables, some alone and staring into the distance, some in pairs talking.

Dinner would be served in an hour and the hall would likely fill. Walsh told me that I could talk to whomever was willing, so I scanned the room and decided on a small group that included a couple holding a bag of soda and chips and a woman looking at her iPad.

I addressed the trio by introducing myself and asking them to share their experiences and opinions.

The man shook his head and replied, “Don’t get me started because I won’t shut up.”

It was fine with me, I said, if he didn’t shut up. He began a litany of complaints about his month in the shelters, about what he perceived as a lack of respect and about rumors that there were supplies packed into a semi-truck for evacuees that had been sent to Chico but never delivered to Camp Fire victims.

The man told me this was the third time he had lost a home to fire. I asked what they thought was the reason for such ferocious fires.

“PG&E,” the man said. “They knew something was wrong with their electrical system.”

“They haven’t cut the trees like they ought to,” said one of his friends.

When I asked if any of them thought that one culprit might be global warming, they all shook their heads no. Each made a few more statements about their personal losses and then, with little fanfare, stood and walked away.

*****

Before going further, I should state unequivocally that I’m convinced by scientists who say that climate change is induced by human activity and is the greatest current threat to our existence. Finding support for that belief is easy. Every major scientific organization in the world (such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science) and 97 percent of climate scientists maintain there is human-caused global warming and the consequences will be dire if we fail to reduce the emissions that cause it.

“Maybe there is climate change” — Julie Pearson.

The woman with the iPad wanted to continue the conversation. Julie Pearson was born and raised in Paradise and has never lived anywhere else. Over the years there had been a few evacuation warnings and she had always packed a bag and prepared to leave. But the threat never amounted to more than “smoke and ashes” from distant fires, and escape was never necessary, she said.

This time it had been very different. Pearson tried to evacuate immediately but ended up being trapped for hours in a Paradise parking lot surrounded by fire. She showed me a phone video of a house adjacent to the parking lot that caught fire and was destroyed in a matter of minutes. Pearson and the people with her in the lot were terrified that they were going to die.

“I don’t think climate change has anything to do with it,” she said. “One of the main problems is that everyone had propane tanks. They were exploding all over the place.”

She also believes that many of the trees in Paradise should have been removed. “A lot of people blame Trump,” she said. “They say he didn’t want to put up the money for cutting trees. There were a lot of dead trees up there.”

I asked why she was certain that global warming wasn’t a factor. With her crystal blue eyes, Pearson stared at me with a weary expression, then turned her gaze to the table for a moment. “Maybe it did,” she said, without looking up. “Maybe there is climate change. The last few winters there certainly has been a lot less rain.”

I asked if she thought the government was responsible for trying to do something about it. “Like what?” she asked, turning to look at me again.

“Like trying to reduce the pollution that causes global warming,” I replied.

“But there’s no pollution in Paradise!” Pearson said.

photo by Denise Minor

For a moment I considered explaining the global nature of this issue, the correlation between increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in parts per million and a long-term global warming trend. But why? What would be the purpose?

To try to convince her that she had been wrong about climate change? And therefore she was somehow culpable, or at least part of a population that was culpable? No. That would be cruel. Walsh was right – this wasn’t the time to ask these questions.

I mumbled something about pollution being a complicated issue, thanked her and stood to leave.

*****

So here we are in the United States with President Trump, who has called the concept of global warming a Chinese hoax and stated that he did not believe the National Climate Assessment study released by his own federal agencies.

Here we are in the North State with our District 1 congressman, LaMalfa, who has stated that he “didn’t buy” the concept of human-made climate change. Really? The 3 percent of scientists who don’t believe in human-caused climate change are the good ones?

I don’t blame people who trust their leaders. I don’t blame those who don’t understand the science of global warming. I do blame leaders who are either so ignorant or so unscrupulously swayed by corporate donors that they champion positions that are not only contrary to science but also dangerous to us all.

*****

Darkness had descended by the time I stepped outside. Walking toward the cafeteria in silence were dozens of people, some in ill-fitting clothing, all taking slow steps that conveyed exhaustion. The dreary mood was punctured momentarily by a distant scream followed by loud laughter from children.

At the gate I turned back to watch more people fanning out of the dorms and heading toward dinner. A phrase I hadn’t thought of in decades came to mind, something my grandmother often said: “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

Denise Minor is a Chico State Spanish linguistics professor who previously worked as a San Francisco-based journalist.

4 thoughts on “Red Cross shelter evacuees struggle with urgent needs A writer asks if Camp Fire changed attitudes toward climate change

  1. Federal Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke came to Paradise and Magalia last month to promote some forest “management” measures in the farm bill then pending before Congress. Those measures were dropped from the bill because they included over 4 billion board feet of timber sales from federal lands. But on Dec. 28 Trump signed a timber industry favored executive order to expedite the extraction of these saw logs.
    Perdue claims that timber harvest will help avert wildfires like the one that devastated “Paradise Valley, California.” He used the name twice in the release so it’s clear he thought that was it.
    The Chico Enterprise Record opines: “The only way someone could visit Paradise and attach “valley” to its name is if they weren’t paying attention. But then again, his boss came to town and called it “Pleasure,” so maybe not paying attention is standard procedure for this administration. If you’re going to use the town for political purposes, at least get the name right.”

  2. This is wrong, and difficult, on so many levels. I am speaking as a climate refugee burned out of Paradise, temporarily living in Grass Valley.
    First, I am deeply saddened that there are so many climate refugees without any sort of temporary housing beyond a shelter, RV or tent, so many climate refugees who are destitute, so many climate refugees who are not connected enough with family, friends, or society to receive more substantial help.
    Second, along with the scientists, I feel that climate change is an urgent issue and that it absolutely played a role in the devastation in Paradise and the surrounding areas. That the victims of climate change cannot acknowledge this is disturbing. And, yes, I get it. Our leaders are lying to us. The political will to acknowledge and address climate change is urgently needed and is not comprehensively there at the top. This is a life threatening problem.
    Finally, there is the issue of the trees! Many seem to think that the problem is that there are too many trees; the trees all need to be cut down. This is environmentally short sighted! The trees help the soil, the watershed, and the air. The trees mitigate warming by providing shade and, more importantly, by absorbing CO2 and providing Oxygen. The trees provide habitat for many species, and all species are important on this planet. The solution is NOT to randomly cut down trees. We need trees. I was at my property recently and was shocked to see the number of trees that were cut back, down or removed on my land and in the surrounding area. Granted, some may have been necessary. Some of the exposed wood in cut trees looked healthy to me, but I am not an arborist. Regardless, I question the rationale for the number of trees that are being taken out. And they are being taken out from private property. Perhaps the least of the problems, but a question none the less, is what is happening to the board feet of the tall pines, cedars and other trees that are being taken out? It seems to me that property owners ought to be consulted about what trees come down, and what happens to them, to retrieve money from them if their is money to be had.
    Enough. This was a huge, tragic event. I believe people are doing the best that they can, and that mistakes will almost necessarily be made. I am grateful for the kindness and generosity of many, for the helpers.
    Finally, I would like to see all of us who were burned out refer to ourselves as “climate refugees”, because that’s what we are, and because that will help to inform the public as to the role climate change played in this merciless, monster fire.

  3. Thanks to Denise Minor for raising the issue of climate change and its connection to the fires in and around Paradise, Concow, Yankee Hill, Butte Creek Canyon. I too am a climate refugee–my house along with my whole neighborhood burned to the ground along with the rest of Paradise.

    At the beginning of December I went to Washington, DC with a coalition of Camp Fire survivors to carry our stories to legislators, including Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, and Mike Thompson, to encourage them to connect the dots between what happened to us up here and climate change. The science supports that connection. Dana Nuccatelli, a climate scientist who is one of the authors of the much-cited survey article that found that 97% of scientists studying climate change believe that it is real and caused by humans (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024/meta) , spoke at the Gateway Science Museum last Saturday night. He said that climate change is responsible for up to 50% of the factors that created the conditions for the Camp Fire (https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/11/the-many-ways-climate-change-worsens-california-wildfires/), including the drought of 2012-2016.

    So whether it is “time” to talk about this with sheltered climate refugees or not–and I appreciate the empathy about that–clearly it is time for those of us with the knowledge, means, and emotional fortitude to act.

    Connect with #ClimateUprising on social media or visit ClimateUprising.org and, if you want to be part of history, come to the overhead crane photo shoot at 1330 Elliot Rd., Paradise. Bring friends and signs–we’re hoping for 1000 people connecting the devastation surrounding them directly to climate change, with the visual impact to go viral.

    As to Paula Edgar’s point about the trees–THANK YOU, Paula–I agree that more trees seem to be being cut than necessary and I, too, wonder about who is going to profit from all that lumber. Driving up my own street, Bille Road, it looks like a logging operation. The tree that was taken down in my front yard was healthy and across the street from utility lines–it could easily have been limbed to protect the lines.

    I too am grateful for all the resources that have been brought to bear to get Paradise back up and running. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask questions. Naomi Klein’s book, _Disaster Capitalism_ tells us that, historically, disasters like ours have brought money-grubbing authoritarians out of the woodwork. We’d best take heed and pay attention.

    1. Thank you Susan. We went to the Red Cross Shelter and filmed with those displaced. At least 2 of the people we talked to believed in Climate Change and that it was a factor that contributed to the ferocity and frequency of California Wildfires. Our 500-1,000+ Person Group Portrait is Sunday Feb 17th @1pm at 1330 Elliott Lane in Paradise, CA. Come be a part of the big picture conversation, and join a bi-partisan call for climate action. Facebook.com/ClimateUprising http://www.ClimateUprising.org #CLIMATEUPRISING

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