More than four months after the Stinky fire devastated homes in Potter County, officials now have a clearer picture of the debris that remains — and a plan for how to begin removing it.
That is progress. But for residents who lost homes, property and any sense of normalcy in May, the length of the process also raises a fair question: Why has it taken this long to get to the cleanup stage?
Amarillo Office of Emergency Management Director Max Dunlap told Potter County commissioners Monday that 47 debris piles have been identified, categorized and mapped. The assessment was completed in early September, and officials have established procedures for tracking the debris after it is removed.
The work is more complicated than simply loading everything into trucks and hauling it away.
The Stinky fire began May 17 at the City of Amarillo landfill before escaping the landfill’s containment fence and spreading into adjoining areas of Potter County outside Amarillo city limits. It destroyed 52 occupied homes, caused major damage to another and minor damage to seven more. In all, 77 homes were affected to some degree.
What remains reflects the scale of that destruction.
Officials say 25 piles contain vegetative debris such as tree limbs. Twenty-three contain construction and demolition material, while others include appliances, household waste, soil, mud and sand. Some piles contain several types of debris.
That mixture creates complications. Materials that might otherwise be reusable have to be separated and evaluated. Some debris may require asbestos testing before it can legally and safely be disposed of. Workers also must protect themselves from potentially hazardous materials while handling the piles.
Those are legitimate reasons for officials to proceed carefully.
The immediate priority is removing vegetative debris, which the City of Amarillo has agreed to accept at its brush sites. Potter County Purchasing Agent Alyson Villalon said that portion of the cleanup is expected to cost less than $100,000.
There is also a growing reason to move quickly.
“We’ve had feedback that vermin are starting to gather in some of these piles,” Dunlap told commissioners. “That is an unfortunate aspect of having these piles go through the season we’re in; again, we are looking into solving those as soon as possible. Removing them would be the quickest and easiest solution.”
That concern illustrates why debris removal is more than a cosmetic issue. Piles left sitting for months can create additional problems for people already trying to recover from a disaster.
At the same time, officials deserve some recognition for attempting to handle the cleanup correctly rather than simply moving debris without considering environmental, safety or federal requirements. Dunlap said OEM established procedures involving procurement, coordination between agencies and FEMA-compliant tracking. Local contractors are also being considered for portions of the work.
Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner acknowledged the difficulty facing the people who will ultimately have to remove the debris.
“That’s a hard job. That’s a hard job going out there to clean up a mess that was made,” Tanner said. “It was a horrible, horrible fire.”
Perhaps the biggest weakness in the recovery effort so far has been communication.
Dunlap apologized to commissioners for not providing an update sooner, even though he said OEM completed its work within the timeline commissioners established in July. More importantly, residents themselves have complained about a lack of communication.
OEM has since worked with 2-1-1 Texas to contact affected homeowners and property owners and determine what problems they continue to face. That is a useful step, but communication should be a central part of disaster recovery from the beginning, not something strengthened only after residents complain.
There is no realistic way to make recovery from a fire of this magnitude quick or simple. Testing, contracting, disposal requirements and worker safety all take time.
But residents should not have to wonder what is happening.
The debris has now been mapped. Officials know what they are dealing with, and they have outlined the order in which the piles will be addressed. The next measure of progress will be more visible: getting those piles removed from the affected properties.
