Chico Park Fire Evacuees Look Out for Neighbors

CHICO — Some people had to leave their homes after the fast growing Park Fire ended up at the Neighborhood Church in Chico.

In the Butte County evacuation center, many say the progression of this fire is all too familiar. The Ferguson family suffered tremendous loss during the Camp Fire in 2018.

“I just reminisce about driving through the Camp Fire, and I look back and it’s just there. The flames are there, and it happened again today,” said Ellie Ferguson, who is now in high school but remembers the day she evacuated Paradise six years ago.

Her father, Tim, said the loss their family suffered is still fresh in their minds.

“It hurts, I lost my dad in the Camp Fire,” Tim said. “I keep thinking, ‘Here we go again.'”

People like James Henri, who left with his 13-year-old dog King, are grateful for their safety and are thinking of others who he says have it much worse.

“It’s the other people I feel so sorry for. I don’t own my house. I don’t have children. I feel really happy now,” Henri said. “As someone who is faith-based, you pray a lot. You pray a lot. You pray for other people, not just yourself or what you need.”

That was the spirit of the evacuation center in Chico: a spirit of selflessness and always thinking of the person next to you.

Chelsey Bartels and her friend Brett have a van to shelter in, but they said they tried not to panic and helped whoever could get out when the evacuation order came.

“We’re trying to stay calm. We’re trying to help each other and that’s how we’re trying to live our normal lives,” Bartels said. “It’s a practice. It’s an emphasis. How can we be in this chaos and navigate it calmly? We need to help our older neighbors get out of it.”

They said that having lived in the wilderness for twenty years, they are acutely aware that things can change at any moment.

“You do what you can to help the people around you and you never forget that the most important thing is that you have each other,” Brett said.

The Park Fire is now California’s largest wildfire so far this year, burning nearly a quarter-million acres in its first three days. Four counties—Butte, Tehama, Shasta and Plumas—have been hit with evacuation orders.