When the Woolsey Fire started in 2018, Will Carney was attending his 50th high school reunion in Philadelphia. When he returned home, everything was gone except for family photos saved by his wife. Since then, he has been stuck in a long recovery period.
Carney is living in a motor home. He needs to choose a new house and wait to move back. But he’s having a hard time getting himself to work.
“It’s very hard for me to function right now to do what I have to do as far as choosing the homes, accessing which one to build,” Carney said. “I’ve done a lot of construction so that it should be easy, but I’m having a really hard time sitting there.”
The Woolsey Fire broke out on Nov. 18, 2018 and turned into the largest and worst wildfire in Southern California. Three people died in the fire, which burned 96,949 acres and destroyed 1,643 structures in less than two weeks.
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Seventeen months later, the survivors are still recovering.
Residents who lost their houses faced sometimes tough negotiations with their insurance companies. Some of these uninsured residents could not afford to rebuild.
According to the Malibu Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to the long-term reconstruction for fire victims, 26% of the homeowners it helped were uninsured, and 59% renters didn’t carry enough insurance to cover their belongings.
Even victims with enough money to rebuild their houses, must wait and deal with delays getting permits to rebuild.
According to an analysis conducted by The Los Angeles Times and Zillow, more than 400 single-family homes in Malibu were destroyed in the Woolsey Fire. So far, only 95 single-family residences have been issued building permits, and two houses completed the construction.
Seminole Springs is a Mobile Home Park about 12 miles from Malibu. It was devastated in the Woolsey Fire, destroying 110 homes and all of the community's infrastructure.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced a delay in rebuilding the community, the reconstruction is affected. Only five workers are allowed in at any time to replace the electrical lines. Factories building the homes are closed or operating with smaller staffs.
Some residents who cannot afford the high cost of reconstruction chose to leave Malibu. Also displaced are household workers whose employers lost their homes in the fire. Some had been working in Malibu for many years. They face the dilemma of unemployment.
Some workers reported that they didn’t even didn’t get paid for work performed before the fire.
Some non-profit organizations, such as United Way LA, provided financial support to these workers.
And COVID-19 makes it harder for them to find jobs. Employers don’t want to hire strangers and increase the risk of infection.
Fire victims are also suffering mental stress.
The Malibu Foundation invited fire victims to complete the Trauma Screening Questionnaire, which measured post-traumatic stress disorder. It shows that 72% participants suffered from stress.
This organization received $171,776 from eight different organizations focusing on wellness. And it has helped 515 people. Malibu Boys and Girls Club is one non-profit organization that it funded. The club provides free counseling for children troubled by the effects of the Wooley Fire.
Will Carney lives in the Seminole Springs Mobile Home Park for 15 years. Before the fire, the lakeside family community boasted 215 mobile homes nestled among nature in Santa Monica Mountains. Residents enjoy a walk to the lake where many birds migrate to or stroll down to the nearby horse stables.
But the Woolsey Fire demolished this natural paradise.
Driven by extremely dry conditions and strong winds, the fire spread north of the 101 Highway toward Thousand Oaks and Agoura Hills. Around 9:50 p.m. on Nov 9, the fire swept through the hills of Malibu, and Seminole Springs began to burn, suffering the heaviest devastation. The property toll: 110 houses and the entire infrastructure of the mobile home park.
Drag the dividing line and see how Seminole Springs was changed before and after the fire.
When Carney returned home, he called his insurance company. He was well insured and got the checks within two weeks without negotiation.
“I was expecting to fight them,” Carney said. “But I was paid that much more than covers what the contents were. That was a surprise and very easy to deal with the insurance.”
Carney received $450,000, which covers the structures and furniture and his rental.
He said he paid a higher annual premium of $2,800 for fire insurance, but it proved worth it. Neighbors, he said, paid $1,200 or $1,500.
“It’s just every time there is a disaster, two-thirds of the people find themselves underinsured. That’s a statistic that hasn’t changed much,” said Amy Bach, the executive director of the United Policyholder, a non-profit organization providing an information resource for consumers of all types of insurance in 50 states.
Bach said that it is difficult for these victims to negotiate with insurance companies because residents tend to choose policies with lower coverage to save money. Some residents also don’t increase their fire insurance as their home value goes up.
“Most of the time, when somebody comes into the court and says it’s the insurance companies’ fault, the court will say, but it’s your house, and it’s also your fault,” Bach said.
Although Carney’s insurance company came through, he’s stuck in the tedious process of waiting for his house to be rebuilt. The problem: Seminole Springs needs to replace the whole infrastructure.
According to the previous report in the Los Angeles Times, it may take up to a year and cost $10 million to replace the entire infrastructure network of Seminole Springs. Streets, storm drains, sewer systems, pipes, gas, and electric lines were all ruined in the fire and its aftermath.
“We sat around for a year with nothing got done because there was no money,” Carney said. “A lot of people are upset that they won’t be able to afford to rebuild because they were underinsured to begin with and it’s all since taken over a year.”
Cynthia Novak, Seminole Springs Chair, Grants Leadership and Donations, is trying to get grants and loans from banks.
Novak said they face a dilemma right now. They could rebuild the entire infrastructure, but they have no enough money to support the reconstruction. Or they just repair these old broken-down infrastructures and bring people in the new homes as soon as possible. They have been waiting for more than a year.
The board hasn’t made their final decision yet. Seminole Springs secured a Line of Credit through Community West Bank and is signing documents on a 30-year, low-interest Small Business Administration Loan.
Novak said the Board is working with a general contractor to make it possible for residents to return home during construction as utilities are rebuilt.
So far, they have asked Southern California Edison to replace the electrical lines, which is free.
The COVID-19 stay-at-home orders have slowed replacement of the power lines. Only a small team of five people are continuing to work.
In April, eight new empty houses have been delivered to residents, but these families cannot move in immediately. Residents need Certificates of Occupancy granted by California Department of Housing and Community Development before moving in.
“To be granted a CoO, residents have to be hooked up to all utilities: gas, water, sewer, electric. We don’t have electricity quite yet. When the power is turned on May 6, some of the new homes plan to hook into the old utilities until new utilities are installed,” Novak said.
But the long wait has put the financial burden on some fire victims. Except for the reconstruction fee that the insurance pays to rebuild, homeowners must bear extra rental fees, which stresses their finances even more.
Marantz Bruce, the resident interviewed by the Los Angeles Times said, “insurance gave me money for a year of rent, but that money is over. We now need to rent homes for another year, and we all don’t know how we will pay.”
Besides, when the Woolsey Fire broke out, victims found that rents have more than doubled, according to the previous report of LAist. Before the fire, renting a small house needed around $2,500 per month, but it rented for around $7,500 in December 2018.
“Rentals in Malibu after the fire were started at $6,000 a month. Who can afford that? Unless you're really wealthy.” Denise DeGarmo angrily said. She is the development director of Big Heart Ranch, a non-profit animal rescue organization in Malibu. It also provides mental health relief after the Woolsey Fire.
Big Heart Ranch was devastated by the fire, and it has almost been rebuilt with support from other non-profit organizations.
“We can get grants, individuals and families can’t get grants,” DeGarmo said. Most of the organizations provided emergency help for residents, such as shelters and food, but they cannot supply long-term cash relief.
For some residents displaced by the fire, the prospect of rebuilding takes a back seat to simply getting through each day. They were forced to be homeless, living in their cars. Many more, unable to afford such a high reconstruction fee, eventually fleet Malibu.
Based on the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Regional Council and Suburban Stats, the total population in Malibu in 2019 decreased by 2.4%, from 12,957 to 12,645. This deadly wildfire drove an exodus from cities in California.
Malibu Resident Trish Pushaw said, “there are two Malibu. One is the Hollywood Malibu, the other is the real Malibu. This is the real Malibu.”
Lino Vazquez didn’t realize that he would lose his job when he was watching the TV news about the Woolsey Fire. He was a daily worker who has been working in Malibu for 10 years.
Vazquez can do different kinds of work, like construction, remodeling, gardening, or cleaning. Before the Woolsey Fire, he went to Malibu three times a week, sometimes he could even work for five days. However, everything is impossible now.
He tried to come back to his working area and recontact with his former employer but found it was blocked. When the ban lifted two weeks later, he couldn’t keep in touch with the employer and get his two-week back wages of $1,300.
The employer said that he has no money, and the fire destroyed the house.
“Whether the house burns down or not is actually none of our business,” Vazquez said. “This is his excuse to buy himself time to escape. I didn’t have my job and my two weeks' salary.”
Like Vazquez, daily laborers, restaurant workers, and other low wage workers who worked in houses and businesses in areas affected by the Woolsey fire are struggling.
Nancy Zuniga is the program manager of Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA). Funded by United Way LA, this organization offers financial support to workers who lost their jobs in the Woolsey Fire. They have surveyed over 500 low-wage immigrant workers who face financial or health issues.
“There is a lot of exploitation and abuse domestic workers and daily laborers,” Zuniga said. “Many times, workers have worked in the same home for many years in some cases, and have experienced different fires, but workers are not receiving compensation or any type of financial support.”
Jose Paz faced a similar situation. He was in the labor exchange studio when he saw the fire. He evacuated with other workers, but when he returned and tried to contact his employer, he was told that he lost his job because the house burned down.
Paz also didn’t get paid. He appealed to the California Labor Commissioner's Office with other workers. “We did everything we could, but they couldn’t find the employer either.”
Vazquez and Paz are both undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Without the major income from Malibu, they have to rely on friends or contacts outside Malibu to provide daily work.
“I’m still very worried about my economic situation,” said Paz. “Because we don't have social security, we don't have documents, so it’s very difficult, almost impossible to find a permanent job. The government won't help those of us without papers.”
Although Paz understood that he only has Emergency Medical Insurance because of his immigration status, he’s back in Malibu, cleaning houses and removing debris.
His employers provided N95 masks and gloves, but over 50 domestic workers do deep-cleaning homes in Malibu, often without masks, gloves, or other basic safety gear, according to Zuniga.
“We teach workers how to use the N95 masks and talk about other types of hazards at their jobs,” Zuniga said. They have been advocating a permanent standard for the protection of workers’ health.
Vazquez and Paz want to find a higher paying job in Malibu.
“We have stagnated and cannot move along,” Vazquez said. He is living in a shared garage with other workers, but he doesn’t want to come back to Mexico or bring his family to Los Angeles.
“I couldn't help myself, and I couldn't help my family much more,” Vazquez said. “People like me are suffocating. If there is a job, even with a small income, it can slowly make life better. But it’s impossible to live with family without any job.”
Trish Pushaw is a volunteer in the Big Heart Ranch. She usually spends three to four days on the Ranch once a week. On the day the fire broke out, she woke up at 6:30 a.m. to texts urging her to go to the ranch and put the bunnies in cages, just like every regular volunteer day.
When she noticed the fire coming over from the hills from Thousand Oaks, she was getting all the halters ready to feed the horses with Leo Vargas, the ranch manager, whose trailer was reduced to ashes in the wildfire.
As the fire approached, they decided to evacuate to Point Dume with these rescued animals. It took Pushaw four hours to get from Pepperdine University in Malibu to Santa Monica, a distance of 14 miles Along the road, she was surprised that she didn’t see any police and fire trucks. Instead, she saw the fire coming over the hill behind her in the car.
“You could see the fires when you’re driving. It’s surreal,” Pushaw said. She thought she had post-traumatic stress disorder. She felt anxious when she saw the smoke.
Resident Mari Stanley didn’t evacuate when the fire broke out. She still sobbed when she looked back on the fire.
Months after the fire, she lost several good friends, and she attributes it to the Woolsey Fire.
“When they say that only a few people died, it is not correct,” Stanley said. “because the true nature of what that fire did was cause health problems so severe that if somebody had an immune suppression.”
Cynthia Novak agreed with that. Seminole Springs is an old and retired community, and she said they usually lose three or four of their elderly in a year,but they’ve lost 12 this year.
Sometimes Stanley couldn’t sleep well and get up in the early morning in the aftermath of the fire.
Suzi Landolphi is a licensed therapist and the Founder of the Big Heart Ranch. She explained that many residents may feel anxious, shake, can’t eat, or sleep well after experiencing the fire, they are all common symptoms facing tragedy.
“We live not expecting a tragedy. So, when a tragedy comes, our body first goes into shock,” Landolphi said. “The healing part about that is to understand that at any moment, at any time in our lives, you can lose anything, including your life.”
Suzi encourages people to take a look at what they gain from the tragedy, which is called posttraumatic growth.
“Every tragedy brings strengths. It brings awareness, it brings appreciation,” she said. “I have a chance now to take a look at my life in a very different way. I could understand that maybe I could spend more time helping others in my community.”
The Big Heart Ranch burned down during the Woolsey Fire, but non-profit organizations provided grants to rebuild it.
“Any community member that walks onto our property into this ranch, everything we do is for free,” Suzi said. “There is a place to come with no judgment and a place where someone can understand and say we were in the fire with you.”
Not only adults experience the trauma because of the fire, but even a 2-year-old child may also have a mental health issue.
It is much easier for children to be threatened and scared by the fire. When they are experiencing the loss and trauma, they may show up to bullying other children, withdrawing, or sleeping a lot. These are all the symptoms, or external performance, that they feel unsafe for the environment.
Boys and Girls Club in Malibu is keeping providing free counseling for all the schools since November in 2018.
“When they first started, we started trauma relief groups and crisis groups. Kids were put into those groups according to what the other needs,” said Randi Goodman, director of the Wellness Center. “And then we identified what kids needed individual counseling.”
She said family plays an important role in comforting children after a destructive wildfire.
“The initial intake is always with the family, and we try to bring the parents in to talk about how the family is doing,” Goodman said. “But if the parents are spilling their anxiety on their children, then they will be feeling worse.”
At the beginning of this program, over 110 students came for counseling. By March this year, 80 to 90 students seek therapy at the Wellness Center weekly.
Will Carney likes sitting in his motor home, gazing at the verdant mountains around the Seminole Springs, and waiting for the day when he can move back to his new house. He loves the beautiful scenery here, and it makes him feel out in the wilderness.
Although the Woolsey Fire traumatized these communities, these victims are trying to rise from the ashes.
Although fire victims now are still facing struggles, different non-profit organizations, such as The Malibu Foundation and Los Angeles Woolsey Fire Long Term Recovery Group, are supporting them in many ways.
