SOUTH LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Local, state and federal officials on Wednesday gathered to speak about the Valley fire recovery effort, and encouraged community members to register for the federal assistance that the president made available through special action this week.
On Tuesday, at the request of Gov. Jerry Brown – with strong encouragement from Congressman Mike Thompson – President Barack Obama granted a presidential major disaster declaration for the Valley fire, an action meant to aid the recovery process.
The Valley fire is the third most damaging fire in California's history, according to Cal Fire.
So far it has claimed four lives, burned more than 76,000 acres and 1,910 structures – including more than 1,200 homes – and left an estimated 3,000 people homeless, authorities reported.
Officials said that more than 20,000 people – nearly a third of the county's residents – had been evacuated at the height of the fire.
Lake County was still reeling from the Rocky and Jerusalem fires, which had together burned close to 100,000 acres earlier this summer, when the Valley fire broke out Sept. 12.
“It's been a hell of a last 90 days for Lake, but if any county can get through it, Lake County will,” State Sen. Mike McGuire said at the gathering of local, state and federal officials in Middletown on Wednesday.
McGuire said the infrastructure in the south county is having to be completely rebuilt. He said Pacific Gas and Electric has replaced more than 800 damaged poles, and at one point during the peak of its response had 1,000 people in the county making repairs.
“Lake County will become stronger in the weeks and months to come,” McGuire said.
Officials said Wednesday that they're still crunching the numbers in the process of calculating the damage the county has suffered as a result of the Valley fire.
“The devastation is significant. There's no question about it,” said California Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci.
Ghilarducci said it's conceivable and realistic that the total damage will be hundreds of millions of dollars.
Lake County Administrative Officer Matt Perry said an initial look at property rolls shows a $2.1 million loss to the county in property tax revenue. He said he anticipates additional losses in sales tax, transient occupancy tax (or bed tax from resorts and other hospitality facilities) and other forms of revenue.
With Obama's declaration issued, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has opened up a variety of forms of help to residents and businesses impacted by the fire disaster.
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate arrived in Lake County to tour the damage, and he joined state and local officials on Wednesday to urge community members to take advantage of the assistance being offered to them.
“The loss of life in any disaster is one that touches everybody in the community,” he said. “Our mission now is to focus on the survivors and the challenges they're going to face in rebuilding.”
In that process, Fugate said it was critical that people register for FEMA assistance so that the process of responding to the needs in Lake County can begin.
Officials urge community members to call 1-800-621-3362 (those who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service, call 1-800-621-3362); apply online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or via smartphone at m.fema.gov.
If those routes aren't sufficient, “Tell me where the people are and we'll go to them,” Fugate said.
Fugate – himself a former firefighter and paramedic – also warned, “This fire is a symptom of the underlying drought, and the drought is not over,” adding, “There will be fires that we cannot stop.”
The focus has to be on on life, safety and evacuation, Fugate said. People need to be ready to evacuate with little or no notice. In the case of the Valley fire, people had little or no time to prepare, he added.
If firefighters are telling you to go, Fugate said, it's because they know they can't stop the fire.
The Valley fire's behavior was erratic, and it moved faster than people are used to. He said when evacuation orders are given, people can't delay. “Delay can be deadly.”
For community members concerned about replacing homes that couldn't be covered under fire insurance due to location, Fugate said those uninsured losses trigger FEMA assistance.
He said once registered, it takes from hours to days to get the needed assistance.
As for the possibility of temporary FEMA housing, Fugate said his agency will work with state and local officials to determine the needs and how to respond.
He said FEMA will have a role in oversight for the recovery, making sure the federal funding is spent property and that it gets to the people who need it.
Ghilarducci said the focus must now become the next phase – recovery. That will bring with it a series of challenges for everyone.
“This won't be an easy task,” he said.
With everyone working together at all levels of government, as well as nongovernmental and faith-based organizations, “We can make this better,” he said, adding he has seen recovery time and again following disasters.
Ghilarducci said Gov. Brown has directed all state agencies to assist Lake County with the recovery process.
He said Lake County's recovery process ahead is a marathon, not a sprint.
“Working together we will be able to overcome and make things better,” Ghilarducci said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.