San Andreas, CA…One of the big, if not the biggest, item last night was that local contractors and crews are encouraged to take part in the Butte Fire debris clean up. With clean up crews spread over Lake Fire and other incidents besides the Butte Fire they are in need of local contractors and crews with equipment and crews who can clean each burned home site. Most will have to be taken down to bare dirt and even some soil may need to be removed to have a toxic free site for rebuilding.

They will be teaching a Free HazMat materials removal class that is a prerequisite for those working on debris clean up. CalRecycle will be spearheading the efforts and will be largely spending disaster relief funds. It was mentioned that up to $40,000 per home site may be spent based on numbers from past incidents. Before the rebuilding can begin the cleanup has to be finished. Any local contractors who would like to help in the clean up efforts should contact the Calaveras County Environmental Health Dept. At 209.754.6399 or email Rosalee Callahan at rcallahan@co.calaveras.ca.us. They will add you to their list and the class may be held as soon as next week.