People who had their homes destroyed in California fires last month will be granted a reprieve from some of the challenging restrictions associated with rebuilding.

The last thing someone wants to think about when their home and life is destroyed is how they are going to manage to replace vital documents like driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Typically, these replacements are associated with fees ranging between $14 and $28.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently issued an executive order that will give Californians relief as they attempt to piece their lives back together. The fees associated with replacing important documents will reportedly be waived for people affected by the recent Kincade Fire. This waiver will reportedly be in effect for three years.

Wildfire survivor and advocate Patrick McCallum praised the move. McCallum, who runs advocacy group Up from the Ashes, says that victims of wildfires have bigger concerns to worry about such as insurance and government aid claims. He views waiving the fees to be a step in the right direction.

“It is unbelievable the hassle that it is, what you have to do to rebuild your identity and your life,” said McCallum, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Anything to ease that is a positive and a good step. We’re thankful for that.”

Recent California Wildfires

The 2018 wildfire season was deadly and destructive, setting tragic records across California as thousands of wildfires burned millions of acres. In total, there were reportedly 8,527 wildfires in the 2018 season. Combined, these fired burned almost 1.9 million acres – the largest burned acreage in a California fire season.

Unfortunately, trying times are not over for the Golden State. The 2019 fire season had a slow start but quickly picked up as the months passed.

One of the more destructive California wildfires this season was the Kincade Fire. The fire started on Oct. 23 and burned through nearly 78,000 acres of land before it was contained on Nov. 6. At the time, this was the largest fire to burn in the 2019 wildfire season and is the largest wildfire ever seen in Sonoma County.

Over 180,000 residents were forced to evacuate from their homes as the Kincade Fire burned through wine country. The blaze destroyed 374 buildings, 174 of which were reportedly residential homes.

The Kincade Fire among others was allegedly started by utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) which has faced repeated complaints for its role in California wildfires. PG&E reportedly told regulators that part of one of their transmission towers broke before the Kincade Fire began, leading people to speculate that this was the cause – although there is no official cause yet.

Power outages by the utility to prevent other fires wreaked its own havoc as well.

In addition to providing relief to Californians harmed by the fire, Newsom has been vocally critical of PG&E. The governor reportedly takes issue with the company’s attempts to resolve their bankruptcy case and has called for a quick resolution of the problem.

“It is my hope that the stakeholders in PG&E will put parochial interests aside and reach a negotiated resolution so that we can create this new company and forever put the old PG&E behind us,” Newsom said in a statement. “If the parties fail to reach an agreement quickly to begin this process of transformation, the state will not hesitate to step in and restructure the utility.”

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.