For Wildfire Evacuees, Bureaucratic Nightmare Begins

Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: In Northern California, a grim reality is setting in. The tens of thousands of residents who've had to flee the wildfires there know that they're not going to be able to move home anytime soon. As NPR's Elise Hu reports from Chico, the fire is dying down. But the bureaucratic muddle is just beginning. ELISE HU, BYLINE: What was once a Sears department store in Chico is now disaster recovery central. Nonprofits and local government agencies man booths as if it's a job fair. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Seven - six - two - four. HU: On the other side of the former Sears, volunteers call out numbers all day long to a packed room. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Seven - six - two - three. HU: Each number represents someone affected by the flames that ripped through so much of Butte County. Luke Bartow, his wife Deirdra and their three small children lost their house. LUKE BARTOW: Home's gone. DEIRDRA BARTOW: Home's gone. L. BARTOW: Yep. HU: So