Paradise & Butte Fire Safe Council team up on tree removal program – Action News Now

Under the agreement approved at the meeting, the Butte Fire Safe Council will now be in charge of the Category 4 tree removal program, but they can't start removing tree until the federal money comes in.

PARADISE, Calif. - The Town of Paradise and Butte Fire Safe Council are partnering up to remove dead trees in Paradise. The Town Council approved the contract at Tuesday night's meeting.

Under the agreement approved at the meeting, the Butte Fire Safe Council will now be in charge of the Category 4 tree removal program, but they can't start removing tree until the federal money comes in.

So, it will be kind of in holding until we get word from FEMA that were ready to go. Were hoping for that in either June or July," said Paradise Recovery Project Manager Brian Solecki.

The tree removal program has been in the works since 2019, the year after the Camp Fire tore through Paradise. The town now has over 11,000 trees on 574 properties ready to be removed.

Butte Fire Safe Council has strong connections within this community, they have the ability to do this work and theyve done quite a bit hazard tree removal work up to this point," said Recovery & Economic Development Director Colette Curtis.

Paradise Town Council said it wants all the tree removal work to go to contractors in town, that's why it chose the Fire Safe Council, but the Town Council says since the project is using federal money, it can't guarantee local contractors will be hired for the job, something many in the community were hoping for.

When this contract is signed, you dont have the hammer anymore," said a speaker from the audience. "Fire Safe Council has the hammer."

"Our goal as a town in this project is to use these funds to remove those trees and to utilize our local contractors, and Butte Fire Safe Council has a long track record of working with our local contractors," Solecki said.

The town says the tree removal will cost around $7 million. The entire project will cost about $10 million. The town has already applied for a state grant through CAL FIRE that would cover 25% of the cost, the rest will be covered through the federal money.

The Town Council also voted to send Mayor Greg Bolin to Washington D.C. where he'll meet with several congressional committees on wildfires to share the story of Paradise.

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Paradise & Butte Fire Safe Council team up on tree removal program - Action News Now