“From Camp Fire to Thompson Fire: Butte County Resident Reflects on Ongoing Struggles”

On Tuesday evening, Ria Abernathy was driving home from her son’s place in Oroville when she witnessed a terrifying sight – a massive plume of neon-orange smoke billowing up from the horizon. Little did she know that this would be the beginning of the Thompson fire, which would go on to burn more than 3,500 acres of dry grass and brush near the Northern California town by the following night, prompting an evacuation order for thousands of residents.

Abernathy, a 55-year-old appliance service manager, stopped to snap a picture of the fire, which brought back haunting memories of the devastating Camp fire in November 2018. The Camp fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed everything Abernathy owned, remains California’s deadliest wildfire to date.

The Thompson fire added to the string of disasters that have plagued Butte County in recent years. From the Oroville Dam spillway failure in 2017 to the North Complex fire in 2020 and the Dixie fire in 2021, the region has been hit hard by one catastrophe after another. The scars left by these events run deep in the community, with many still struggling to recover.

Abernathy, who moved to Butte County from Southern California for a better life for her children, has faced numerous challenges since the Camp fire. An uninsured renter, she lost her home and was forced to live in a trailer in a church parking lot for eight months. While she received a settlement from PG&E, the utility company responsible for sparking the Camp fire, the financial burden of rebuilding her life has been overwhelming.

Now, facing the threat of yet another wildfire, Abernathy is filled with anxiety and uncertainty. She worries about the safety of her son and his wife, who recently bought a home in Oroville. Despite the town having multiple access points for evacuation, the fear of history repeating itself looms large.

As Abernathy prepares for the worst, she reflects on the resilience of her community and the challenges they continue to face. The scars of past disasters serve as a constant reminder of the fragility of life in the face of nature’s fury. And as the Thompson fire rages on, the people of Butte County once again find themselves in the grip of uncertainty, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.