Wednesday marks one month since the wind-whipped North Bay wildfires ignited, wiping out thousands of homes and claiming 43 lives.
As fire-ravaged communities continue to clean up, residents from the demolished Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa on Tuesday met at a planning meeting to figure out what to do next.
There has been a level of frustration when it comes to stomaching the loss of their possessions, filling out documents and waiting for the bureaucratic process of debris removal. Residents at the meeting were pleased to at least formulate a game plan.
"It’s been about a month and we haven’t really had a good chance to sit down and talk about what we want to do to move forward," Stephanie Laplante of Santa Rosa said. "This is kind of our opportunity to do that."
The Environmental Protection Agency has completed step one of the recovery effort, which included surveying the damage. Step two involves contractors physically removing the charred debris.
Quincy King is among those picking up the pieces after his home was leveled by the flames.
"The house had a pulse, it had a brain, there was vision in the house," he said. "The house was a living entity for me, but the house is dead."
King notes that he is still coming to grips with losing his home, but he's doing his best to make peace with the situation.
"It's like losing a family member, a loved one," he said. "So I'm going through the mourning, the grieving process right now. As time goes on, you feel a little bit better."
The United States Army Corps of Engineers said the goal is to have debris cleaned out by early 2018. They also said that the first priority is to make sure that the sites are safe before residents return.
In the Hidden Hills neighborhood of Santa Rosa, residents raced to prevent new devastation from the rain Wednesday. Nick Lopedota's house was destroyed, but like many others, he's trying to protect what's left.
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"We bought 400 feet of tarping to cover the hazmat area, so the water isn't actually going into the soil and creating run-off," Lopedota said. "So we're trying to collect as much as we can."
Lopedota's neighbor, Doug Allard, is using his company, Wattle Guys, to help his community by donating the straw tubes for free. The wattles are used to keep toxins out of drains and waterways.
Allard lost his own home in the wildfire but says he's found a purpose by helping others.
"Basically, it gives you something to concentrate on for a while, and I really think it's a great opportunity to give something back," Allard said.
FEMA was hosting three public meetings Wednesday night from 6-8 p.m.: in the Board of Supervisors chambers at 575 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa; 11700 Dunbar Road, Fountain Grove (for Glen Ellen/Kenwood residents); and at Maria Carrillo High School on Montecito Road in Santa Rosa.
