In November 2018, the Camp Fire, the most devastating wildfire in California's history, was rapidly spreading through the Sierra Nevada foothills. In less than four hours, the fire destroyed a town of 26,000 people, leaving schools, businesses, and 11,000 homes in ruins. Despite initially thinking the evacuation order was a false alarm, Singer fled his home as flames approached, narrowly escaping the destruction of Paradise. Eighty-five individuals lost their lives, and over 90% of the population was forced to leave. Two years later, approximately 4,000 residents have come back to start anew on the devastated land, including Singer. However, he is now reconsidering his decision. In this area covered in chaparral, rebuilding after a fire has been a customary practice for many years. However, with California facing a severe climate crisis and experiencing devastating wildfires amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the process of rebuilding has taken on a new form. In 2020, the state saw the largest wildfire season on record, with over 4.2 million acres burned by nearly 10,000 fires. Northern California has been particularly hard hit by megafires, while Southern California, specifically Los Angeles, has become the epicenter of the pandemic with high numbers of confirmed cases and deaths. Amid a historic housing shortage and low interest rates, California's home prices have reached all-time highs. In August, the median cost of a single-family home in the state surpassed $700,000, and it continued to rise in September. Despite the increasing cost of new homes, many homeowners are facing even higher costs when rebuilding after a fire. Across California, the number of home rebuilds is decreasing due to a lack of contractors, rental market pressures, and the worsening climate crisis. The state, still struggling with an affordable-housing crisis, has seen a decline in new construction permits for the past two years following a steady rebound after the 2008 recession. In 2018, there were 120,000 new home construction permits issued, which then decreased to 110,000 in 2019. A home in Malibu, California was destroyed in a wildfire on December 30, 2020. The rebuilding process in California, the most populous state in the nation, is changing due to the ongoing climate crisis. The California Industry Research Board will release its 2020 construction and permit numbers in February, but estimates indicate that only 103,670 housing units were issued last year. The state of California, facing a severe climate crisis with soaring temperatures and devastating wildfires, is seeing a shift in the rebuilding process. The board responsible for tracking permits for fire-related losses has noted the difficulty in analyzing the impact of wildfires on homebuilding due to the widespread nature of the fires. However, there is a clear trend emerging as more homeowners opt to cut their losses and start fresh rather than rebuild in the face of increasing fires and declining rebuilds statewide. This decision is seen as a critical piece of the puzzle in understanding the rebuilding process in California. The state is facing a shortage of contractors, leading to delays of four to five years for homeowners trying to rebuild. Despite expectations for an increase in building permits after the Camp Fire, the number has remained low. Many insurance companies are providing large payouts to homeowners, but contractors are overwhelmed with work and unable to start immediately. As a result, some homeowners are choosing to sell their properties and move on. However, in areas with high property value like Malibu, where the Woolsey Fire struck in 2018, rebuilds are progressing steadily, despite the tragic loss of three lives. The city was completely evacuated and 650 expensive homes, including those owned by Miley Cyrus, Gerard Butler, and Robin Thicke, were destroyed. However, today more than a third of those homes have permits for rebuilding, with Paradise standing at just over 10%. Michael Nourmand, president of Nourmand & Associates, compared rebuilding after a fire to someone getting a shark bite but still surfing. He mentioned that people in Los Angeles tend to have short memories and most are planning to rebuild. Rebuilding is easier for those with financial resources, as California has strict fire-safe building codes in place since 2008, requiring reinforced roofs, walls, and fire-resistant landscaping. In 2011, the state mandated that all single-family homes must have sprinkler systems installed. This requirement can add over $20,000 to the costs for homeowners who wish to reconstruct a home built before 2008. Those who opt to rebuild must find temporary housing, further straining a housing market with high prices and limited availability. As a result, California's most at-risk residents are impacted by the consequences, with homelessness in the state increasing by 16% in 2019 to over 150,000 individuals. Due to the impact of COVID-19, it is anticipated that the number of people experiencing housing insecurity will increase. James Ryan, the president of Time for Homes, a nonprofit focused on ending chronic homelessness, explained that when numerous homes are destroyed, residents are forced to find alternative housing, which in turn drives up rental prices and reduces availability of affordable housing. Governor Gavin Newsom's eviction moratorium, designed to prevent tenants from being evicted due to pandemic-related financial difficulties, is set to expire on February 1st. However, despite the moratorium, some reports indicate that evictions are increasing during the pandemic. According to Ryan, there are individuals who are being overlooked and facing forced evictions, leading them to search for alternative housing. This is creating a situation where there is a high demand for housing but a limited supply, resulting in a shift in population towards California's rural areas. For example, in El Dorado County, sales in 2020 increased by 28%, while Sacramento experienced a slight decline. The Inland Empire, consisting of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, is experiencing rapid growth and has been mostly unaffected by the large wildfires that have impacted other major metropolitan areas in California over the past two decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has further fueled this trend, leading to an increase in exurban migration. With median home prices significantly lower in Riverside and San Bernardino counties compared to Orange County and Los Angeles County, many are considering moving east for job opportunities and a more affordable cost of living. "We have observed a significant increase in people moving to areas such as the Inland Empire, Joshua Tree, and Palm Springs. It is hard to determine whether this is due to the desire for more affordable housing or to escape fire risk. This trend has been ongoing since 2010," Dunmoyer explained. However, not everyone can afford to move away from fire-prone areas, particularly in a state with a severe housing shortage. Since the Camp Fire, Singer and his wife, Shannon, have been living in an apartment in Chico, approximately 20 miles away, as they deal with the challenges of rebuilding their home such as insurance, zoning, construction, and planning. They have also established a nonprofit organization called Paradise Stronger, using their fitness coaching background to offer mental health support to residents affected by the disaster. Initially, they were dedicated to participating in Paradise's comprehensive recovery plan to reconstruct the entire city with more parks, green space, fire-resistant landscaping, and improved evacuation routes and warning systems. However, the 2020 fire season introduced new devastating terms like "megafires" and "hot drought." Fire-spreading winds necessitate precautionary power outages as a standard practice. In October, the Singers once again had to evacuate their property due to a fire approaching and already causing destruction. Singer, 43, explained that the area where their home would have been was the first to be evacuated during the recent incident. He described how all that could be seen was smoke and the PTSD he experienced as a result. Following this, his wife expressed her uncertainty about rebuilding and living in the same location. Singer recalled her saying, "I’m not sure I want to rebuild. I’m not sure this is where I want to be anymore." He mentions that he is willing to stay in the town and be part of its vision, but he does not want to jeopardize his marriage. The couple has decided to temporarily halt their plans to rebuild their home. If they do proceed with the project, they anticipate spending $100,000 from their own funds. The new home they plan to build will be smaller and more fire-safe, with an estimated cost of $250,000. They were paid $145,000 for the building that was destroyed in a fire, but like many American households, they found out later that they did not have enough insurance coverage. In response to insurers refusing to renew policies in high-risk areas, some new developments are implementing resilience protocols in wildfire-prone regions. One example is Rancho Mission Viejo in Southern California, a large community being built on 23,000 acres of land. When finished, it will consist of 14,000 homes, with 75% of the land preserved as open space. Fire resilience is a core principle of the construction in the community of Rancho Mission Viejo, where many wildfire resistance measures were put in place even before they were required by state and local regulations. The community was recently recognized in a report by the Urban Land Institute, along with the town of Paradise, as a model for rebuilding after wildfires. Each neighborhood in Rancho Mission Viejo is surrounded by a 110-foot-wide fuel modification zone, where flammable vegetation has been replaced with fire-resistant plants. Certain plant species are not allowed, and construction materials are noncombustible. Automatic fire sprinklers were mandatory in every home well before it became a California law in 2011. The additional cost for fire-safe modifications during construction has decreased significantly since the beginning, ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 per home initially, but now as low as $1,000. Jay Bullock, vice president of Rancho Mission Viejo, attributes this decrease to fire-safe methods becoming more common in the market. Mike Balsamo, senior vice president of governmental relations at Rancho Mission Viejo, emphasizes the importance of building safely in high fire hazard zones for a sustainable future in a state where livable space is limited. He mentioned that there is a playbook for this approach. "We have the ability to establish a community that is as safe from fires as possible." © 2020 New York Times News Service.