Days of Fire, Years of Recovery

As firefighters gained more ground on the constellation of destructive Northern California wildfires, Sonoma County officials declared that the deadly disaster is shifting from a frantic emergency to what’s likely to be a long and painful recovery.

The bottom floor of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat is a small window into the scale of the catastrophe and what’s to come. What was once a vast warren of converted office space is now home to Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster assistance, passport services, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the U.S. Post Office and scores of other federal, state and county agencies.

Chris Mocney made his first visit Wednesday to register for assistance from FEMA.

“You put yourself in the loop and make yourself eligible for any assistance you may need,” said Mocney, standing in line with a few dozen other people, many of whom raced from burning neighborhoods with little more than what they could scoop up and the possessions already in their cars.

Mocney’s house was among those that burned.

“The temporary housing, we didn't need that fortunately,” said Mocney. “We have our daughter’s place to stay, so we didn't need that.”

On Thursday Mocney was back to deal with DMV paperwork for his wife's car, which had been banged up in the chaos of the evacuation. It's one of many issues to be addressed.

“I had some questions about what we're gonna do about cleanup,” said Mocney, who intends to rebuild on the same plot of land. “Our subdivision is on a septic system, so there's a concern about that."

Germain Hauprich and her husband, Gerald, visited the center to have their Social Security cards replaced.

“He did his and it was so fast,” said Germain Hauprich. “They made it easy. They have really cut through the red tape."

Teams of support staff work with each resident, steering them to the right agencies and forms and making sure they complete everything correctly.

Then there are the things that can’t be claimed on a form. As flames jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the Hauprichs' neighborhood, Germain Hauprich said the couple whisked her 86-year-old mother to safety, collected their animals and fled. Everything else was taken by the fire.

“We had a daughter that died when she was a baby. All her pictures are gone,” said Hauprich tearfully. “And so, she'll only have to live on in our minds.”