IT’S A SLOW BURN FOR FIRE VICTIMS
Published in the Feb. 7, 2026 issue.
More than two months after the Pack Fire destroyed dozens of homes and businesses along McGee Creek, Mono County still has no concrete plan to remove toxic debris. For the first time on Tuesday, the County’s Board of Supervisors discussed its respone to the fire.
In Mono County’s two most recent major fires – the Mountain View Fire near Walker in 2020 and the Round Fire in Swall Meadows in 2015 – cleanup efforts were supported by the state. For the Pack Fire, however, the state completed just one day of debris removal before withdrawing because of severe weather.
That single day produced little visible progress.
“I was out working in the ash, and [the state workers] just sat in their trucks and watched me,” said Long Valley Fire Chief Scott McGuire during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.
County officials have largely avoided public discussion of cleanup efforts while awaiting a funding determination through California’s Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA), which can provide financial assistance to public agencies following emergencies.
But that funding now appears unlikely, and property owners in McGee Creek who lost homes or businesses have grown increasingly frustrated with what they described as a lack of communication and direction from the county.
“Why is it as if we’re reinventing the wheel here?” asked Elizabeth McGuire, Pack Fire victim and owner of East Side Bake Shop. “This is not the first fire. This is not the first problem dealing with hazardous materials, and it’s been a really slow-moving effort to give us as a community the resources we need to move forward.”
The Pack Fire ignited on Nov. 13, destroying 30 residential structures and six other buildings. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Dec. 9. The state conducted its one-hit-wonder cleanup day on Jan. 2. And aside from brief references during routine emergency services updates, the county has been mum on cleanup planning until this week.
Which means 82 days passed before the cleanup was formally placed on the board’s agenda. And even then, no concrete plan emerged.
“I am disappointed in you as a body,” former Mono County Supervisor Fred Stump told the Board during the meeting. “Three weeks after the Round fire, we held a public meeting […] we had more information presented at that meeting than the [Pack Fire victims] have had to glean from the county so far.”
Post-fire cleanup is critical to removing toxic and carcinogenic debris – including ash, soot, and burned household chemicals – that pose serious respiratory and other health risks. In this case, runoff from the burn area threatens the McGee Creek watershed, which drains into Crowley Lake. The cleanup is also required for homeowners looking to rebuild.
Cleanup occurs in two phases. Phase One, which involves removing hazardous household waste, was what the state partially completed. Phase Two, which includes removing ash, contaminated soil, foundations, and structural debris, is far more extensive and costly, and is now under consideration by the county.
If CDAA funding does not materialize and the county assumes responsibility for Phase Two cleanup, costs could reach as high as $2.6 million. Insurance reimbursements are estimated to cap at approximately $566,000, based on projected debris removal costs of $60,000 to $100,000 per parcel, with additional expenses if asbestos is found.
Fully funding the cleanup could consume nearly all of the County’s $2.7 million general reserve fund, which is intended for public purposes, not private property cleanup. The county’s disaster assistance fund contains roughly $1.3 million, but those funds come with restrictions.
The county is not legally required to pursue a cleanup program, though County Counsel Christopher Beck said California law gives the board broad discretion to do so if it determines the work serves a public purpose.
A county-run cleanup could be justified, he said, if framed as protecting public health or environmental safety. Courts generally defer to a legislative body’s determination of public purpose so long as there is a reasonable basis for it.
So, it’s fully up to the supervisors to decide the level of involvement the county takes in the cleanup. If they don’t want the financial burden, they don’t have to take it.
As an example, Assistant County Administrative Officer Christine Bouchard pointed to Sonoma County’s response to the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
After the state funded only Phase One cleanup, Sonoma County declined to operate a countywide program and left debris removal to individual property owners. For properties whose owners could not complete cleanup on their own, the county eventually stepped in and placed liens on those properties to recover costs.
It is generally cheaper for individual property owners to contract debris removal than for the county to do so, Bouchard said, because public projects must comply with prevailing wage laws, stricter hauling and disposal requirements, and additional administrative rules that do not apply to private contracts.
And this option is attractive to some homeowners, especially those who already felt slighted by the county’s inefficiencies and are ready to move forward.
“I will work for free. I will rebuild the community as much as I can,” Chief Walker said. “I think we should take the government out of this as much as we can.”
Others did not feel the same.
Thomas Forte, co-owner of the scorched McGee Creek RV Park, urged the Board to commit county funds to cleanup and pursue reimbursement later. Resident John Neubauer said the board had a moral obligation to act. Craig Kennedy blamed the U.S. Forest Service for the fire and said it was unjust to expect residents to shoulder the cost.
“I was told as a kid, if I ever broke something that was someone else’s, I had to fix it,” he said.
But despite differing views on who should pay, nearly every speaker voiced frustration with the county’s lack of communication. Several residents said they were unaware that independent cleanup was currently allowed.
“This is the first time I’ve actually heard that we as homeowners could start [cleanup],” McGuire said. “And that’s not what was printed on paper. It said you cannot do anything, you cannot go to your property without the equipment.”
Supervisors acknowledged the community’s frustration and agreed that, regardless of how delays occurred or where responsibility lies, the county is now accountable for addressing the cleanup.
While the board acknowledged that staff work on cleanup options was complex and ongoing, it also expressed frustration that key information had not been brought forward sooner, saying both the board and the public should have been presented with clearer options much earlier.
The board largely coalesced around a “hybrid” cleanup approach, directing staff to develop a plan allowing property owners with the means to proceed independently while providing county assistance to those who cannot.
Supervisors also urged staff to establish a formal Right of Entry process so property owners can clearly choose whether to opt into a county-supported cleanup or move forward on their own.
No timeline was set, but supervisors emphasized the need for urgency as snowmelt approaches and another building season hangs in the balance.
