CHICO — The Federal Emergency Management Agency has started moving people in to its last temporary housing community for Camp Fire survivors this week on Aztec Drive in Chico.
The site has 83 mobile homes. Around a dozen households had moved in by Thursday, with more on the way. The temporary housing community is one of the closest to Camp Fire survivors’ previous homes in Paradise, Magalia and Concow and is the final site to be built. Households are required to show they are seeking permanent housing to continue to live temporarily in the FEMA communities.
For Kimberly Sullivan, moving in to a mobile home on Aztec Drive on Thursday meant she could live with her sons Gage and Riley for the first time since the fire displaced them to different rented rooms across Butte County. It was important for them to be able to live close to Paradise schools.
“I can’t stop crying,” she said. “We don’t have much to pack. It all fits in the car. But the important things are here.”
Initial opposition from neighbors delayed the start of construction. But in around two months, a grass field sandwiched between the railroad tracks and offices in south Chico had turned into a temporary neighborhood complete with gravel, underground utilities and parking spots for each home.
It’s part of a large-scale FEMA operation throughout the region to house eligible Camp Fire survivors. As of Aug. 19, FEMA was housing 277 households in trailers or mobile homes at 19 commercial parks throughout Northern California.
The other group site in Chico, the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds, is currently housing 59 households in travel trailers. Another 100 households have moved in to FEMA’s largest site in Gridley since it opened earlier this month. The agency has planned 400 mobile homes there. Other locations that have some FEMA trailers or mobile homes include Oroville, Yuba City, Corning and Orland.
The Chico milestone this week comes as the registered need for FEMA housing continues to decline. The number of families in FEMA housing has dropped around 14 percent since late July, despite large new housing opportunities like the Gridley and Chico sites. That’s because people are finding alternative, more permanent housing solutions.
