Tough housing market awaits California wildfire victims
Posted October 18, 2017 7:00 am
PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) - The many thousands who lost their houses, condos and apartments in wildfires burning in Northern California will have to find a new place to live in one of the toughest housing markets in the nation.
California also has a statewide housing shortage that the governor and legislature have been trying to address. That shortage got even greater with the 6,000 homes and businesses lost in the fires.
Federal emergency administrator Brock Long said Tuesday that the blazes are "a tremendous event for an urban area to have to handle," and recovery will be difficult.
The challenges will pile on to the physical and emotional toll of the fire's victims. At least 41 people were killed in the fires that broke out eight days ago and continue to burn.
Debbie Wolfe stacks some china to take with her, that once belonged to her grandmother, found in the burned ruins of her home, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A massive deadly wildfire swept through the area last week destroying thousands of housing and business. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Jenna Latrache looks through clothes at a donation center for victims of the recent wildfires, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Latrache lost her Coffey Park home when she and her family had to evacuate a week ago as a massive wildfire swept through the area. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Mehdi Latrache tries on shoes at a donation center for victims of the recent wildfires, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Latrache and his family lost their Coffey Park home a week ago as a massive wildfire swept through the area. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Fire crews build a containment line as they battle a wildfire Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Crews walk along a fire road as they battle a wildfire Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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A firefighter is covered in smoke as he monitors a wildfire along a fire road Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek , Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Jen Nadeau, a retired firefighter-EMT from Vallejo Fire is shown at a shelter in Petaluma, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. Nadeau has been volunteering at the shelter for fire evacuees in Petaluma every day since the fires broke out, helping people cope with anxiety and assessing their health needs. (AP Photo/Sudhin Thanawala)
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Fire crews are driven up a fire road en route to battling a wildfire Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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The Santa Cruz Mountains are covered in smoke from a wildfire Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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In this Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, photo provided by Will Bucquoy shows a newborn baby antelope enjoying the special attention by a giraffe at Safari West in Santa Rosa, Calif. The days-old endangered baby antelope born amid the Northern California wildfires has died. Aphrodite Caserta, spokeswoman for Sonoma County's Safari West, said Tuesday, Oct. 17, the cause of the animal's death is unknown. (Will Bucquoy via AP)
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Deja Jones, 12, takes a selfie with Stomper, the mascot of the Oakland A's Major League Baseball team at the Epicenter sports complex, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Stomper and A's catcher Bruce Maxwell visited the center and brought items for the kids at the center that has opened it's doors for the area children affected by the recent wildfires. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Debbie Wolfe uses a laundry basket to carry the few things she found that were destroyed in the burned ruins of her home of 30 years, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A massive deadly wildfire swept through the area last week destroying thousands of housing and business. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Debbie Wolfe dumps ashes from a pot she found in the burned ruins of her home Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A massive deadly wildfire swept through the area last week destroying thousands of housing and business. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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A firefighter builds a containment line as he battles a wildfire Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Crews chop down branches and trees as they battle a wildfire Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, near Boulder Creek, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Shay Cook, of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team and her search dog, Zinka inspect a burned out pickup while searching the Coffey Park area Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A massive wildfire swept through the area last week destroying thousands of housing and business and taking the lives of more than two dozen people.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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File - In this Oct. 15, 2017 file photo, wildfire evacuee Francisco Macias, a landscape worker from Santa Rosa, Calif., collects donated blankets, baby diapers and food supplies for his family at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, Calif. Residents in California wine country are increasingly worried about the ability to pay their bills as wildfires drag on. Macias, a landscaper in the city of Santa Rosa whose clients included a now-burned Hilton hotel, fled the fires last week. In the following days, Macias and his wife made the hard decision not to pay their mortgage when it came due. (AP Photo/Olga R. Rodriguez)
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In this Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 photo, workers begin repairs to a damaged irrigation pipe at the wildfire-damaged Signorello Estate winery in Napa, Calif. Residents in California wine country are increasingly worried about the ability to pay their bills as wildfires drag on. The state's deadliest group of fires has left many business owners and employees without work or pay for nine days. Business communities are just returning to assess the effect on revenue and jobs. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
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In this Monday, Oct. 16, 2017 photo, people visit the Pine Ridge Vineyards tasting room after it reopened following the wildfires in Napa, Calif. Residents in California wine country are increasingly worried about the ability to pay their bills as wildfires drag on. The state's deadliest group of fires has left many business owners and employees without work or pay for nine days. Business communities are just returning Tuesday to assess the effect on revenue and jobs. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
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J. Petrocelli of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue walks through the burned out remains of a home while searching the Coffey Park area Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A massive wildfire swept through the area last week destroying thousands of housing and business and taking the lives of more than two dozen people.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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Capt. Fran Roelfsema, of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team and her search dog, Tioga, inspect a burned out home with team member Leah Waarvik, left, while searching the Coffey Park area, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. A massive wildfire swept through the area last week destroying thousands of housing and business and taking the lives of more than two dozen people. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
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A fire burns near the summit of Mount Wilson early Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, northeast of Los Angles. Firefighters on the ground and in the air raced to protect the Mount Wilson Observatory and nearby communications towers from a growing brush fire. (David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News via AP)
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A fire burns atop Mount Wilson, seen from Pasadena, Calif., northeast of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. The fire erupted in the early morning on the 5,713-foot (1,741-meter) peak, near the region's TV and radio broadcast towers and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory. (AP Photo/John Antczak)
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