KPBS Midday Edition

Recovery Continues One Year After Alpine Fire

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Brooke Ruth / Senior Producer, Radio News

Published July 5, 2019 at 11:15 AM PDT

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

Flames from the West Fire burn a house near Alpine, CA, July 6, 2018.

Saturday will be one year since the West Fire in Alpine destroyed 39 homes.

Saturday marks one year since the West Fire destroyed 39 homes in Alpine.

Some of those homeowners are still struggling through the long process of recovery.

Twenty-two of the 39 homeowners who lost their homes in the fire have either completed construction or are in the process.

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One of those homeowners is Tiffany Devlin who said it feels like the fire just happened. She started to cry when describing what it's like to be in her new home one year later.

"We're lucky to already be moved back in to rebuild and that's a pretty incredible accomplishment that we're really proud of. So we will be spending our year anniversary in our new home. But it's hard because you miss the old home and it's a totally different life now. And something that we're stronger for," Devlin said.

Vince Nicoletti, deputy director of planning and development services for San Diego County, was the assistant recovery manager for the West Fire. He joins Midday Edition on Friday to discuss the recovery process.

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KPBS Midday Edition East County Wildfires

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Brooke Ruth

Brooke Ruth is the senior producer for KPBS Radio News. She previously served as a producer for "KPBS Midday Edition" and a web producer. Before joining KPBS, Brooke was a web editor for four newspapers and a local television station. She began her career in news at the Imperial Valley Press. She has also been part of the web teams at the Napa Valley Register, North County Times, and U-T San Diego. While pursuing her undergraduate degree at UCLA in psychology, she worked on the student newspaper, the Daily Bruin.

See stories by Brooke Ruth