Burned On The Fourth of July: Collinsville Struggles To Rebuild A Year After Fire Scorches Town
COLLINSVILLE (CBS13) — A small, historic town in Solano County burned on July 4 last year, with half of the homes in Collinsville destroyed by the fire.
A sign is still up a year later, thanking fire crews for saving part of the town, but many people say Collinsville will never be the same.
It was a fire on America's birthday that destroyed a piece of the American Dream for many in the small town of Collinsville, an hour southwest of Sacramento.
"It was like seeing part of your heritage burning up ya know," said Sam Liberati.
His home was spared, but eight others in the former fishing town with a rich Italian history burned to the ground.
"Everyone was trying to fight it at first; it was crazy," he said.
Few people plan to rebuild. Many lots are empty with no homes, just weeds and signs of fire.
Most of the residents live in trailers on their land a year later, most without insurance.
"Right here we're standing, where the laundry room would have been to go into the back," said Amanda Milem.
Instead of a washer and dryer, a hose runs from her trailer into a septic tank. A generator runs constantly to provide power for her and her fiance.
They want to rebuild, but to bring the property up to current code and floodplain requirements would cost them more than $100,000, and that doesn't even buy a home.
"It's just the money, I don't have that. I'm 29 years old," she said.
She says they will likely have to leave Collinsville, but somehow she is still keeping a positive spirit in a town that lost a lot of it.
"The fire can't burn your spirit I guess," she said. "It can burn what you have, and you can either dwell on it, even though I know we're probably never going to rebuild."