In a matter of hours, a quarter of the town was little more than smoldering ash.
What started small exploded into a wind-whipped apocalypse. People ran for their lives. The streets boiled. What was left was unrecognizable.
“You could go down a street and not even know where your home was,” says Pat Vela, president of Siskiyou Habitat for Humanity, one of many hands rebuilding this historic logging town.
Nearly two years after the horrific Boles Fire, normality is slowly returning to Weed. Last month, 75 truckloads of soil were delivered — earth to replace the six inches of topsoil scraped away from the fire zone. According to City Administrator Ron Stock, 60 of the 143 homes destroyed in the blaze have been rebuilt. Recently, a new dollar store opened. Paperwork for five other prospective businesses are on file at the planning department. Stock is pleased with the progress.
Vela, too, is optimistic.
“If you go downtown and take a look, there are some empty stores but it’s not—I believe it’s going to come back stronger than it was,” he said.
Though it took less than a week to contain what started as a score-settling arson fire, recovery is taking much longer.
After the fire, whole neighborhoods resembled a war zone. The elementary and high schools were damaged. Both the Catholic and Presbyterian churches burned down. The library and its 8,300 books went up in smoke. Even one of the city’s water towers was destroyed. The town’s largest private employer, a lumber mill, temporarily ceased operations. Electricity was out for 10 days.
The mood is better now, but there were moments of despair. In 2015, Weed lost a larger share of its population than any other community in California, Stock said. That’s a trend that typically sends commerce into a downward spiral.
Residents who stayed, faced significant hurdles.
Andrea Herr is a case manager with the Weed Long Term Recovery Group, an organization created in the fire’s wake.
“Many, many houses were older and underinsured,” Herr said. “Even some of the houses that were newer turned out to be underinsured compared to the very expensive cost of rebuilding today. And a lot of people had to use much of their personal contents money to help with their rebuilding.”
Stock said disputes between insurers and homeowners over settlements have slowed the pace.
The city and county tried greasing the skids. A resurvey of the burned area was done by the city. State and federal grants cut the cost of building permits.
While its famed prevailing winds fanned the flames of destruction, Weed’s location also softened the financial blow. Halfway between Ashland and Redding on Interstate 5, gas and diesel taxes kept city coffers afloat.
Over the months, nonprofit, religious and social organizations stepped up. More than a dozen hammer-swinging volunteer construction crews, coordinated and supported by Herr’s organization have helped with rebuilding efforts.
Nevertheless, locals acknowledge that the fire will leave a lasting imprint. Rental housing isn’t being rebuilt. The economics, Vela explains, just aren’t there.
“They’re not going to rebuild the rentals because of the fact that they, the percentages aren’t there,” he says. “They can’t get. The average rental in the city of Weed is anywhere from $400 to $700. You can’t rebuild a home and turn around and rent that thing out and have any type of income off of it. It’s just not feasible.”
Nevertheless, Weed is on the way back. A 400,000-gallon steel water tank has stood for a year. Both churches are under construction and work on a new community center is about to start.
“I would say on the whole people are optimistic and they’re pleased with the progress that’s been made, but there’s a huge amount of work to be done yet in terms of city infrastructure,” Herr said.
Road repairs and $2 million worth of construction on water mains, sidewalks and gutters get underway in the fall.