Five years after the Dixie Fire burned nearly a million acres across five California counties and destroyed more than 1,300 homes and businesses, some survivors in Plumas County are facing a new deadline. The county’s emergency ordinance that allowed people to live in RVs and trailers on their burned properties expired on July 1, 2026, and supervisors declined to extend it. Survivors must now build a permanent home or vacate the land they own.
Adam Wangsgard has lived in a trailer on his property for five years. He says he intended to build, but permitting costs and limited recovery assistance drained his resources. His frustration is blunt: fork out all this money, or get out. Meanwhile, PG&E, whose equipment was linked to the fire’s start when a Douglas fir fell on power lines in Plumas National Forest, settled with the California Public Utilities Commission for $45 million without admitting criminal liability.
The story resonates well beyond Plumas County. Communities across California’s fire-prone foothills, including areas within commuting distance of Sacramento, face the same question after every major blaze: how long is long enough for recovery, and who pays for it? Greenville’s slow rebuild stands as a test case for what happens when the emergency ends before the recovery does.
What do you think? Should temporary housing ordinances after a wildfire have a firm expiration date, or should they stay in place until rebuilding is actually possible?
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
