CHICO — A Cohasset family is recovering after six of their extended family’s homes were destroyed in the Park Fire.
They were on vacation when what has now become the sixth largest wildfire in California history A violent outbreak erupted in Butte County last week. They began calling friends and family to get their important belongings back before it was too late.
Alida Markwood told CBS13 that her family home, as well as those of her mother, grandmother, uncle, cousin and brother, were affected. At least one of the homes was rented and provided a source of income for her family members.
Now they are focusing on what is needed to rebuild and find comfort.
“We don’t have a place to go back to. We don’t have a home and so I guess it’s a very restless, very busy, kind of lost feeling. I know one of the other questions you asked was, you know, how do we feel, and I’ve tried to describe it to people as kind of a lost feeling,” Markwood said.
They are staying with another family member, which Markwood said is a blessing others may not have.
“It’s a place to rest,” she told CBS13.
She said she knows her family isn’t the only one suffering the consequences of the Park Fire. Although she hasn’t been able to return to the family homes to see the damage with her own eyes, a neighbor sent her photos of one of the homes.
“It was a very sentimental house. My mom and dad built it together, and he passed away a few years ago. So it was like we lost the last part of him. So the sentimental side, all the little things like socks and shoes and things you can buy,” Markwood said. “But it’s the things that are a part of him and our family history that we can’t get back. That’s probably the hardest part to understand.”
They turned to the community for support, through the nonprofit GoFundMe. The company told CBS13 that the nonprofit side was created to quickly get money to families, like Markwood’s, after a natural disaster. A GoFundMe spokesperson told CBS13 that they can respond to grant applications for the Northern California Wildfire Fund in one to three days sometimes.
Markwood said his family needs daily support to cope with the losses caused by the park fire. Other family members affected by the fire have turned to GoFundMe for immediate support and funds for rebuilding.
Madisen Keavy
