Joanne Ayon and Benny Hawthorne were honored in a dedication ceremony at Hawthorne’s new home on Bella Vista Avenue in Paradise and received their keys. The homes were built by each of them and took about six months to build. Ayon and Hawthorne were required to help with building 30 hours per week as part of the Community Housing Improvement Program’s self-help homeownership program.

Homeowners in the self-help program spend at least 30 hours a week constructing their home with CHIP’s guidance from construction supervisors. Wells Fargo contributed a $100,000 grant toward the homes.

Hawthorne and his two dogs officially moved in Friday. Ayon started moving belongings in Friday as well.

Housing Program Supervisor Kate Anderson gave a speech at the event.

“People ask me ‘how do you build back a town?’ My answer is one bit at a time. It takes a community to build back a community,” Anderson said.

Mark Montgomery, CHIP director of fundraising and communications, echoed the praise toward the Paradise community.

“This town is an incredible partner,” Montgomery said.

Hawthorne was happy about his new home.

“I never thought I’d ever own a home,” said Hawthorne during the ceremony. “As awful as the fire was it gave me an opportunity.”

Ayon teared up during the ceremony.

“Until you lose everything you don’t know what it’s like,” said Ayon.

Judy Orozco, a CHIP housing specialist, helped complete the home loans for Ayon and Hawthorne.

“It’s amazing to see this process from beginning to end,” said Orozco. “These two have put in a lot of work and I am so happy for them.

Hawthorne seemed overwhelmed by the event and the turnout.

“I’m melancholy because I loved building this house and I don’t want it to end,” Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne and volunteers built the house frame, helped with constructing the roof and painted it. Construction crews completed the concrete and roof tiles. Hawthorne was present at the house construction every weekend from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. He works in financial aid at Butte College.

Ayon’s home on Elliot Road was once the site of her parents’ home which burned in the fire.

“I didn’t realize how many people were involved in the process until today,” said Ayon. “This is very heartfelt.”

Ayon also helped build her house and her granddaughter helped. Her house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Her mother will stay with her on weekends. Ayon moved to Paradise several years ago.

Montgomery said the houses meet Paradise’s standards for fire resistancy.

“The houses have stucco on the sides instead of wood,” he said. “The fences are metal and not wood. There are also other features of the house which are fire resistant.”

Paula Daneluk, Butte County’s director of development services, requested just north of $75,000 to offset a grant that would ultimately fund three county positions directly tied to wildfire recovery. This funding request was unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

After the Camp Fire, the county applied for funding from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program via the California Office of Emergency Services to pay for these positions over the course of three years. It wasn’t until 2021 that FEMA notified the county that the funds would come after an environmental review. As of Tuesday, the funding has yet to come.

Daneluk said her department was told last fall that the funding would be available in January 2024. At that time, the board voted to renew the three positions with the knowledge that the money was coming — but once again, it was pushed back.

“They have since changed their tune and have extended that out longer because of the necessary environmental work on the (environmental assessment),” Daneluk told the supervisors. “So we are here today to request a budget adjustment for the remainder of this fiscal year to allow for those positions, which we extended.”

According to the related agenda report, there is currently no timeline on when the county can expect to receive the funds, but Daneluk said the county has been communicating with both FEMA and CalOES.

“Our latest meeting with them was much more encouraging with their commitment to give us distinct timelines that we could then hold them accountable to as they continue to process these grant applications,” Daneluk said. “And it does look like funding will come through sometime in this calendar year but certainly not within this fiscal year.”

The positions, which include a rebuild advocate and building inspectors, will be terminated if the grant is not issued by June 30, 2024.

“These are very specialized positions,” Daneluk said. “These are extremely difficult to find qualified building inspectors and our rebuild advocate position is one that is very much tied to understanding the traumas and the experiences of people who have lost their homes in the various fires that we’ve had.”

In total, the board authorized $75,161 to be utilized from the general fund, specifically from the contingency fund which came to $8,947,044 after the budget adjustment was passed.

Daneluk said her initial budget planning for the 2024-25 fiscal year includes the positions but added that it depends on whether the FEMA money comes through in time.

Butte County Chief Administrative Officer Andy Pickett said, when the time comes to balance the budget, the positions will also be weighed against other county needs.

“This is part of the whole budgeting process, looking at what our outstanding needs are and what our resources are,” Pickett said. “So this is something that we’re grappling with right now as we put the budget together.

“At that time, when we make the recommendations, if we assume no revenue is coming in, we’ll have to look at this need versus what other needs exist and make the unfortunate recommendations that we have to sometimes make.”

The home, built by Habitat for Humanity and located on Dora Lee Lane, will be dedicated April 6, when new homeowner Bradly Reinhart will move in with his four children. Reinhart and his family lost everything in the Camp Fire. Another Habitat for Humanity house was built close to this house’s location.

People who attended Wednesday morning were able to tour the home and watch a video. Several people gave speeches regarding wildfire preparedness, how these homes are protected from wildfires and what they can do to protect the community.

The roofs of the houses have certain components to be wildfire safe. There are ember-resistant vents and non-combustible areas surrounding the homes, which is required. There is non-combustible siding, and windows are made with tempered glass, according to Steve Hawks, senior director for IBHS.

Habitat for Humanity of Butte County Executive Director Nicole Bateman was first to speak. She noted that Habitat has built 17 homes since the Camp Fire and “we are committed to building safe houses and making sure standards provide comfort for homeowners.”

Janis Bokar, forestry and community outreach assistant for the Butte County Fire Safe Council, hung out with the Wildfire Ready Raccoon, the mascot for the Paradise Ridge and Butte County Fire Safe Councils. Bokar said she was there to show support and say congratulations to the homeowners.

“This is a monumental day,” said Cal Fire-Butte County State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant. “It’s been a rough road to recovery. We look toward wildfire resiliency and how to get there. We want to be prepared for the peak of wildfire season and make sure there is 100 feet of defensible space.”

Reinhart smiled broadly during his speech. He has been living in a trailer in Oroville with his family. A single father, he said his current home doesn’t have a kitchen. He is looking forward to having family gatherings around the kitchen table.

“Dads are supposed to protect and provide,” he said. “I am so excited to move into the home. The greatest thing I can experience is that my kids feel safe and I feel safe.”

Reinhart was ecstatic when he learned he was approved for the home.

“I appreciate everyone who helped me with the process such as IBHS,” he said. “I will be there April 6 and will show up with all of the kids.”

Casey Taylor lives in another wildfire-prepared home in Paradise. An administrator with Achieve Charter Schools in Chico and Paradise, she has lived in her new home since 2022.

“I feel safe and protected there,” Taylor said. “I’m always excited to see homes designated.”

Learn more at readyforwildfire.org.

“They’re pretty ideologically apart,” said Bipartisan Policy Center co-director Jonathan Perman about LaMalfa and Tokuda. “But what they do have in common, somewhat sadly, is that they both in their districts experienced deadly fires.”

Tokuda is the representative of Lahaina, the Maui city that experienced the worst U.S. fire in over 100 years, which killed 101 people. LaMalfa is the representative of Paradise, where over five years ago the Camp Fire devastated Butte County killing 85 people and displacing thousands.

LaMalfa will visit Lahaina next week to learn about the recovery efforts there.

The two representatives, of opposite political parties, are “united by fire,” Tokuda said.

The visits are part of the American Congressional Exchange Program hosted through the Bipartisan Policy Center. These organizations work together to bring members of the U.S. Congress from different political parties together to learn from each other.

The following people were also in attendance at the Saturday meeting: Paradise Town Council member Steve Crowder; Katie Simmons, Paradise Disaster Recovery director; Ron Lassonde, Paradise mayor; and Jennifer Gray Thompson, founder and CEO of After the Fire USA.

Crowder began the meeting by providing context on the Camp Fire and drawing parallels between Lahaina and Paradise.

“Our hearts go out to your community because we know how tough it is,” Crowder said.

At the meeting, Paradise Recovery and Economic Development Director Colette Curtis, gave a presentation on Paradise and the recovery efforts that have been made in the past five years.

Tokuda asked questions and took notes during the presentation.

Part of Curtis’ presentation focused on the Building Resilience Center, which Curtis said is a “one stop shop” for people who are rebuilding. At the center, people can get things like building permits and  help planning their rebuilding efforts.

“I think it’s an outstanding thing that the city did that here,” Tokuda said about the Building Resilience Center. “We need to do something like that back at home.”

Another big topic at the meeting was insurance rates going up after the fire.

Lassonde said there is “… example after example of the insurance slowing down or inhibiting people from repopulating Paradise.”

In 2023, State Farm stopped offering new policies in the California.

LaMalfa said State Farm pulling out of California is “devastating.”

Also of interest to Tokuda, are problems that policy making and disaster relief programs can’t necessarily fix.

“The other thing I would love to talk to some folks about is how they dealt with things we can’t rebuild, the emotional part,” Tokuda said. “We have so much emotional trauma that’s taken place, so much hurt, fear … how can people feel safe?”

After the meeting Tokuda and LaMalfa went on a tour of Paradise to see the rebuilding efforts in Paradise.

LaMalfa will leave for Maui on Monday for a visit similar to Tokuda’s.

Public Works Director Marc Mattox brought forth an agenda item during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting asking the council to approve a contract with the Mountain Cascade-Carollo team for design and build services to the tune of $17 million — maximum.

“Each time we bring the Paradise Sewer Project back before the council, I continue to find more and more excitement and buzz about the project as we get closer to bringing this project to a reality,” Mattox said. “This item before is a representation of literally over a decade of work bringing the project closer to construction.”

The council unanimously approved the contract, with Vice Mayor Greg Bolin recusing himself from this item.

The project consists of linking portions of the town — including parts of Skyway, Pearson Road and Clark Road — to an 18-mile pipeline to Chico’s wastewater treatment plant.

Most of the funding for the project comes from Community Development Block Grant disaster funding, of which about $30 million is dedicated to design and an additional $16 million to go to the project itself.

“Essentially, we are really trying to streamline for the benefit of the cost and schedule and leveraging experience from the constructing team as well as the design time and getting everybody in the same room to provide the best possible project and delivery,” Mattox said.

Paradise Capital Projects Manager Colin Nelson said one thing that sets this project apart from others is that the town will be using what is called a progressive design model. Guy Voss, a consultant on the project with the town as well as the project’s owner’s agent, explained what this means.

“Different from a traditional design/bid build process where you’d select strictly on price using design documents that were given to a contractor that were provided by an engineer, the engineer and the contractor will be working together from the start,” Voss said. “From the start to come up with the design and create the documents that will be used to procure the work. They’ll be working together to come up with the schedule to understand what it’s going to take and what sequence we should build the work.”

Voss said the two entities, the designer and builder, will then come up with a maximum price for the project.

Fire Department presentation

Along with the update on Camp Fire recovery, Paradise Fire Chief Garrett Needles gave a summary on the total incidents in 2023.

In total, there were 1,731 calls in 2023 and more than half, 936, were urgent medical, followed by medical calls that didn’t require lights and sirens at 254. Public assistance saw the third-highest call rate at 190.

Most of the fire calls were in the other category, which Needles said consisted of things like fences and telephone poles or general electric fires, which came out to 24 calls over the year. There were also 13 vegetation fires, six vehicle fires and three structure fires. The rest of the calls comprised of 62 traffic collisions, 103 hazardous conditions, 130 false alarms and 10 other unlabeled incidents.

The department also assisted other agencies in Butte County, again mostly medical. In total, the department aided in 409 additional incidents overseen by other jurisdictions.

“Mostly, I will tell you that it’s around our small bubble of Paradise,” Needles said. “I’ve got the statistics and we went to Oroville once, we went down to the city once or twice. It’s not as if their down in Gridley six days a week.”

Other highlights included the order of a new fire engine, Station 81’s remodel coming to fruition, two updated trucks and fuel reduction with the help of the California Conservation Corps.

Recognizing the effort made in wake of the disaster, Gallagher took opportunity to speak in a press conference on legislative work toward addressing risk mitigation and removing barriers to developments and affordable housing — what he called a “cross section of what’s going on in California and statewide.”

Joining Gallagher were Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez (D-Chino), Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta), Assemblyman Greg Wallis (R-Rancho Mirage), Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-San Diego), Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), Assemblyman Devon Mathis (R-Visalia) and Assemblyman Juan Alanis (R-Modesto).

“They, in their own districts, have seen disasters; they’ve seen issue with wildfire, with floods; and we need to better plan for our emergency situations,” Gallager said about the representatives. “…what we are doing up here and the things that we’re seeing here in Paradise and the ridge community is actually a really good cross section of what we can do statewide.”

Regarding risk mitigation, Gallagher said part of what legislators need to do is make smart policy decisions; he recommended changes to processing for California Environmental Quality Act, permitting and insurance  in order to expedite rebuilding.

“Up here we’re talking a lot about wildfire and what we need to do to prevent wildfire, but there are other emergencies we need to be better planned for; better prepared for; and that’s been a big conversation,” Gallagher said, including earthquakes and flooding.

The need for affordable housing was also brought forth in discussion by Gallagher.

“We have a housing crisis in this state. So many people — that house and that opportunity to live in an affordable place with your family — is very difficult. And some of the things we’ve seen up here have been really amazing. Partnering with (Community Development Block Grant) monies and (the California Department of Housing and Community Development), we’ve actually been able to build some affordable housing projects up here already. Habitat for Humanity has been one great resource for building homes up on the ridge.”

Gallagher said that Butte County benefited from disaster relief that paid for affordable housing, and that affordable housing can be brought statewide through tax credits.

“From a rural standpoint, from a lot a rural areas, we often don’t qualify for a lot of those tax credits that help build affordable housing. So that’s something we’ve been having a conversation about is — how do we make sure that all communities in California can get more of that tax credit programs that help build affordable housing,” Gallagher said.

“There’s been a lot of talk about how do we stream some of these processes and different streams of funding; like how do we make sure that’s more consolidated and easier for communities to navigate. And look; how do we remove kind of (not in my backyard) blockades that come up, seen in the CEQA process but in other ways as well.”

Gallagher said that California on a broader scale needs to be better prepared, and that there is “a lot more we can do” to mitigate risk, help communities become resilient and have affordable housing in all parts of the state.

Paradise progress

Another part of Thursday’s discussion regarded the need for Paradise’s sewer system to be addressed in order to move forward with rebuilds.

Paradise Mayor Ron Lassonde spoke about the progress Paradise has made, and about barriers to rebuilding.

“We’ve come a long way since Nov. 8 (2018). We’ve removed over 3.6 million tons of debris; hundreds of thousands of trees; we’ve rebuilt over 2,500 homes and we’re well on our way to undergrounding all our utilities and repaving our public roads.”

Lassonde said there are still barriers to overcome, including insurance and meeting fire resiliency building standards.

“Our situation’s a bit different. Our evacuation routes are being improved, but there’s gaps in our funding for these vital safety issues,” Lassonde said. “And we also know there’s no recovery in Paradise without the sewer. You’ve heard us hit that several times — it is absolutely critical for us to be able to rebuild our downtown …”

“So our goal for these projects is to bring our residents home. That’s our fundamental that we’re after — we want to seek those fundings so we can bring these people into affordable housing and bring them home.”

Assemblymen Alanis and Mathis said they are both dealing with cost barriers of building in rural, fire prone areas because of increased cost of insurance and the cost of materials needed to meet higher building standards for fire.

According to a press release issued Tuesday by the foundation, the Butte Strong Fund has provided more than $67 million in grants since the Camp Fire, all of which have gone to recovery efforts.

Foundation President and CEO Alexa Benson-Valavanis provided a press statement explaining the decision to provide the grant.

“Our Butte Strong Fund Citizens Committee wanted to make one last large, impactful grant as we exhaust the funding in the Butte Strong Fund grant program. They agreed that support for families and children in the coming years is paramount,”  Benson-Valavanis said. “First 5 is the perfect organization to pull this off, with its combination of experience and a heart for the work. We all look forward to watching this vision come to fruition in the next few years.”

The release said the grant will aid local family centers around Butte County for six years.

After the Camp Fire, the Butte Strong Fund was established in a concerted effort by the North Valley Community Foundation, the Aaron Rodgers NorCal Fire Recovery Fund and Sierra Nevada Brewing.

First 5 Director Anna Bauer responded to the grant in her statement expressing her gratitude for the funding.

“Supporting families is a key step in building a more resilient community,” Bauer said. “Quality support and nurturing during early childhood is the most important thing we can do for young children to help them thrive. First 5 Butte County is proud to partner with the Butte Strong Fund to provide quality programs for families with young children.”

Along with the $3 million grant to First 5, a series of smaller grants were also provided to the following local organizations:

• The Hope Crisis Response Network: $50,000, for building volunteer recruitment.

• Camp Fire Collaborative: $50,000, to provide additional grants for local organizations and commemoration events.

• Magalia Community Park and Community Center: $45,000, to help with obligations such as rent and to help facilities stay open for the community.

• Tula Therapeutic Collective’s Resiliency Project: $25,505, for additional mental health services for Camp Fire survivors.

• The Butte County Office of Education: $25,000, for trauma-informed teachers for the arts.

• Azad’s Basket Brigate: $15,000 to pay for Thanksgiving meals in uncertain financial situations.

•  Paradise Community Chorus: $10,000 to perform for holiday events.

In total, the final Butte Strong Fund grants come out to $3,220,505.

The decision, reached Tuesday night by the City Council and announced Wednesday morning by city administration, finalizes the process of reimbursement for impacts of the Camp Fire.

“I’m satisfied the claim is resolved,” Mayor Andrew Coolidge told this newspaper. “The tragedy affected so many people, and many of them now call Chico home. The impact of the fire on our community was immense, and these funds will be put to good use making much-needed repairs to our roads and infrastructure.”

The city expects to receive $21.1 million (60% minus attorneys fees) next month and $3.5 million (10% minus attorneys fees) in the first half of 2024. The second payment could be greater as the trust sells stock from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to cover settlements.

“This money will help Chico continue to support the residents of Chico and Paradise,” City Manager Mark Sorensen, a councilor during the disaster, said in the announcement. “As the center of response and recovery, we were proud to support Paradise and its residents during the most destructive wildfire in California’s history.”

Sorensen noted that Chico served as “base camp” for myriad agencies and organizations “for many months” in the aftermath of the wildfire — CalFire; FEMA; the California Office of Emergency Services; the Town of Paradise and its emergency operations center; the Paradise Unified School District; relief groups such as the Red Cross; even PG&E, source of the settlement funds.

The city ultimately may not receive its full share of the $43 million total, depending on future disbursements from stock sales. Via outside counsel, Chico presented its claim to a mediator judge. Attorney John Fiske said the trust did its “due diligence” during the process “to understand the extent of the city’s unique public infrastructure damages.”

The funding isn’t restricted to particular uses, but Sorensen anticipates streets as the main beneficiary.

“Recognizing the fact that the vast majority of the damages were damages to roads, including greatly accelerated road surface and subsurface deterioration, my recommendation to council will be to create a separate fund for the revenues and to emphasize allocations to road maintenance and road reconstruction projects,” Sorensen said. He’ll do so after the city receives payment.

Particular roads for claim-funded repairs haven’t been identified

“Aside from simple slurry seal projects, road reconstruction projects require one or more years of engineering work, utility coordination and right of way acquisition before a project can even go out to bid,” Sorensen noted. With work laid out for Measure H and gas-tax funding, he added that the city has “a fairly firm plan for construction season 2024.”

On one hand, a “bumper crop,” as she described it, is good. People love apples and they love supporting a long-established local business.

On the other hand, that many apples can attract unwanted visitors to the orchard. In fact, they already have, and it has reached the point at which the trees themselves are in danger of being damaged.

“The reality is that we have hundreds of tons of apples still out there,” Noble said. “I’d say 80% of our Granny Smith and Fuji trees haven’t been touched.”

Noble Orchards is offering what Noble described as “a major u-pick event” for this weekend, though people are certainly welcome to begin arriving today. She said the company’s suggested price per bushel is $15, equaling about 40 pounds of apples.

Large animals have already started entering the orchard and finding apples on the ground, Noble said. With apples on the trees, animals will climb them and damage the branches. It is therefore to everyone’s advantage to get the fruit out of there, as soon as possible.

Noble recommended that anyone wishing to harvest apples should bring along a wagon, buckets, and a “picking stick” if available. Noble Orchards can provide boxes if visitors desire.

She added that home canners will be thrilled with these apples for making applesauce. The apples are excellent for juicing and making cider. Noble also recommended dehydrating the apples, storing them in the garage for holiday baking, or offering them as gifts.

The Camp Fire, which occurred five years ago this week, was understandably not kind to Noble Orchards — destroying the company’s large cold-storage unit and thus eliminating the ability of the Nobles to store the freshly picked harvest.

Noble said she and her husband, Jim, “have a smaller cold-storage unit — about 8 feet by 20 feet” but that is a long way from being adequate to handle the vast quantity of apples still waiting to be harvested. On top of that — who would do the work? The fire’s resulting population exodus greatly diminished the amount of manpower available.

“We only have eight borrowed bins” to hold harvested fruit, Noble said.

She pointed to the Veterans Day weekend as an outstanding opportunity for families and civic groups to celebrate a patriotic event by picking apples themselves. Jim Noble was a U.S. Army veteran, having served in Vietnam in 1971-72, though he did not see action.

Laurie Noble said this harvest is another bit of good news for the Paradise area as it continues its recovery from the fire. It will provide an opportunity to harvest apples for area food banks.

The orchard is open 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day, until the fruit is out of the orchard. Call 530-781-4784 for more information.

As part of a weeklong series of events, the day of the anniversary held a distinct sense of awareness of the day that instantly changed thousands of livelihoods.

At 11:08 a.m., several hundred community members from Paradise and the greater Butte County area shared 85 seconds of silence led by Paradise Mayor Greg Bolin.

“In the face of such overwhelming loss, 85 seconds may seem like a brief moment. But it’s a significant one. It’s poignant to remember 85 lives that were taken from us, leaving an indelible mark on our heart and our town,” Bolin said. “In this silence, we reflect on the tremendous support and unity that has defined out community response since the Camp Fire.”

Speakers joined by Bolin were Bruce Yerman, director of the Camp Fire Collaborative, James Gallagher, state assemblyman, and Teri Dubose, district representative for Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s office.

As Bolin and others offered their words, a metal box sat behind them — a time capsule filled with literature, art, mementos, figures and other items were prepared to be sealed.

“Inside we’ve placed mementoes, letters, photographs and other tokens that represent the collective memories of our town,” Bolin said. “As we seal this time capsule today we do so with the knowledge that it will be opened on the 25th (remembrance) of the Camp Fire.

“And we’ll all be there, right?” Bolin said; the audience nodded and laughed. “We will be there. We will be there.”

Gallagher spoke about the days following the fire.

“The skies were dark, abysmal; everybody was in chaos trying to find out what we were doing. … Going around to centers and meeting victims … you could still see they were trying to get hope and give hope to others. And in the darkest of days you see that glimmer of light.”

Gallagher said there have been so many people that have been a part of rebuilding, including Casey Hatcher, who served as the Camp Fire Recovery director at the Butte County Office of Emergency Service and recently passed away.

“When I talk about Paradise around the state … I say the best asset is the people of Paradise. And it’s the people of Paradise that have come together in so many different easy to find a way.

“I’ve been just privileged just to be able to walk beside you and find different ways to help. … All the different stakeholders would say the same thing,” Gallagher said. “Now, five years from that day, there’s a lot of hope up here. There’s a lot of light.

Yerman said the Camp Fire Collaborative has partnered with hundreds of businesses to get more than two thousand people back into homes since the fire.

He spoke of his meeting with a researcher who was interested in Paradise’s community and disaster — telling him, they felt a strong sense of community; something different about Paradise’s “disaster.”

“‘People are friendly to us and they’re’ also friendly to each other and they’re working together,’” Yerman quoted the researcher.

Yerman recalled he and his wife found themselves In Oroville, then Chico staying in homes of strangers, who are now lifelong friends.

“They made food for us. We slept in their bed. They’d ride with us. We were just bewildered.”

Yerman continued speaking about a couple, who offered to make food out of their taco truck for families, even though they’d lost their home themselves.

“I said, ‘didn’t you lose your home?’ And he says, ‘yes, but we want to give in this way,’” Yerman said.

“I have seen that story replay over and over and over again from the Camp Fire until today. And it will continue to play forward. And I think that’s what that researcher was seeing and feeling in this community.”

Later in the ceremony, before Bolin locked the time capsule with a key, he added a final item — a challenge coin with the town seal in the front, and a memo: “Working together to rebuild a thriving community.”

“The Camp Fire is an event that tested the very core in this community. We endured an unimaginable loss, but we also discovered our remarkable strength and power of unity,” Bolin said. “This time capsule is a symbol of that resilience. A testament to the unwavering spirit that binds our community.”