As the one month anniversary to the Camp Fire loomed in December of last year, the Chico Enterprise-Record looked at impacts of the fire that included the donations and help pouring into our community, re-population, the shelters (both official and unofficial) that had sprung to life seemingly overnight and, of course, the nascent plans and hopes of the community to rebuild.

Months later, many of those issues are still at the forefront of recovery efforts, with ever-shifting goals and roadblocks to recovery and success. Survivors have learned to take each day as it comes, changing plans with each new challenge.

Now, 100 days after the worst fire in California history, we’re revisiting those same eight topics, to evaluate where our community is in the recovery process — and just how far we have to go.

Search for missing

At its peak, the list of missing issued by the Butte County Sheriff’s Office was more than 1,300 names long. Now, there are just the two people unaccounted for.

So far, the death toll stands at 85, and the Sheriff’s Office has conclusively identified the remains of 73 people. Those names have already been released to the public, and their lives and legacies are chronicled in an ongoing project in the Enterprise-Record — a project that aims to honor every life lost with a front page obituary.

Until every last victim has been named, many feel as though the trauma of the fire continues.

Repopulation

Though thousands of survivors have chosen to say goodbye to their homes (or what remained of them), many have also chosen to stay and rebuild.

All evacuation orders in the burn scar were lifted by mid-December. Survivors who chose to return found themselves faced with a new conundrum — to stay on their property during cleanup, or to find other accommodations until it was feasible to live there again. Very real fears of toxicity in the ashes and environment have plagued Butte County’s residents, with some in nearby cities like Oroville staging protests at the possibility of moving contaminated debris to sites in their cities for sorting and removal.

Thousands of people signed up for debris removal services through the California Office of Emergency Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency with the understanding that they could live on their property before and after (but not during) debris removal.

That process hit a snag nearly two weeks ago when FEMA announced the town of Paradise and Butte County may not be eligible for more than $1.7 billion in reimbursement if homeowners live on debris removal-eligible property in temporary housing (but not if they’re living in a house, to the confusion and frustration of many survivors) before removal occurs.

The Paradise Town Council and the Butte County Board of Supervisors scrambled to adjust emergency ordinances and to make plans for the more than 130 people who had received utility pull permits and were already living on their former properties, to the dismay and anger of hundreds who showed up to protest at a Town Council meeting in early February.

Shelters

The last Red Cross shelter in Butte County closed Friday at the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, where it moved in January, consolidating what was left of several official Red Cross shelters across the county.

As of Tuesday, 63 RVs were still parked at the fairgrounds, and those living in them will be transitioned soon to paying a $40 daily fee to stay there, though some will be eligible for financial assistance through FEMA.

The 130-plus residents who were living on debris removal-eligible properties in Paradise and unincorporated Butte County have been invited to move to one of a few dozen available spots for RVs in Oroville or at the Paradise Alliance Church at 6491 Clark Road, said Shelby Boston, director of the Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services, at a recent supervisors meeting.

It’s unknown how many residents will take advantage of the offer, since some will have found alternate options, Boston said.

The Silver Dollar Fairgrounds is also making ready to take in 61 FEMA trailers to house evacuees, though it will not be ready for several weeks. The fair board signed an 18-month contract with FEMA effective Feb. 1 that includes a 6-month term and month-to-month extensions for up to an additional 12 months.

Federal and state aid

As of today, both the Chico and Paradise Disaster Recovery Centers will be closed on weekends, staying open only Monday-Friday, in Chico from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and in Paradise from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are both slated to close March 1, though the Small Business Administration will open a Disaster Loan Outreach Center in both Chico and Paradise, planned for sometime in the next four to eight weeks.

The last day for property owners to sign up for the government-sponsored Camp Fire debris removal program was Friday.

Property owners who hire a private contractor for debris removal can sign up for the “alternative program” by completing an application and submitting a work plan to Butte County Environmental Health by Feb. 28.

The SBA has also approved more than $300 million in loans for Camp Fire survivors, including $11 million for businesses and private nonprofits, and 2,452 loans totaling more than $287 million for homeowners and renters.

And in January, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his plan to allocate $305 million as part of his first state budget to expand the state’s ability to fight wildfires and better alert systems during future disasters.

Donations

The North Valley Community Fund remains one of the largest, long-term recovery fundraisers. The group has distributed more than $2.2 million to community organizations serving evacuees and first responders. A recent donation of $25,000 went to the Inspire Foundation, to help cover the costs of 70 SAT and PSAT exams for affected high school students, and 100 AP exams.

Other groups, such as the Fire Angels Network, the Butte Strong Fund, and Facebook groups like Paradise Fire Adopt-A-Family, continue efforts to help families and individual survivors directly with gas and gift card giveaways, tools and more.

Schools

The Paradise Unified School District found sites to relocate students to in Chico, Durham, Oroville and Magalia before schools reopened in early December.

Paradise Elementary students and staff are getting back to the business of education at Bird Street School in Oroville while Ponderosa Elementary students and staff have set up shop at Durham Elementary School in Durham, and the Paradise Unified school board voted unanimously in December to reopen Cedarwood Elementary School in Magalia.

Oroville City Elementary School also helped out by relocating its own students, so that more than 150 students from Paradise could use the facility. In Durham, the Durham Unified School District offered nine classrooms for up to 250 Ponderosa students.

700 students from Paradise High School started school again last month at a temporary campus near the Chico municipal airport. Paradise High administrators said they hope they can return to their own campus, which mostly escaped the fire, by August.

Lawsuits

More than a dozen lawsuits had already been filed by early December against utility giant Pacific Gas & Electric that involve more than 430 plaintiffs. One of the first to file was retired Chico Police Chief Kirk Trostle and his wife, Patricia Garrison, a retired elementary principal, who are suing PG&E for negligence.

A Camp Fire lawsuit on behalf of 51 people and the Paradise Community Guilds was filed against PG&E in San Francisco on Jan. 30. The Paradise Community Guilds lost its headquarters, Norton Buffalo Hall, in the fire. Most plaintiffs in these lawsuits are suing the company over damaged or destroyed property, as well as injuries sustained in the fire.

PG&E filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Jan. 29.

Rebuilding

It’s hard to see daily, small steps as success in any situation, but 100 days on, Butte County has certainly made significant progress toward recovery.

Paradise, Magalia, Concow, Butte Creek Canyon and the surrounding areas will never look the same way they did on Nov. 7, the day before the fire, but the indomitable spirit and determination that got the community through the first 100 days will inevitably get us through the next 100 — and the 100 after that.