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Finding Homes For Fire Victims For Now

Italia Guterrez, 9, searches the rubble of her family's mobile home in Talent, Ore., that is covered in red residue from an air drop of fire retardant, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. Italia's family lost everything in the fire earlier in the week and have no insurance or savings. The fires in southern Oregon have taken the most from those with the least, leveling multiple trailer parks in both Talent and nearby Phoenix, Ore.
Italia Guterrez, 9, searches the rubble of her family's mobile home in Talent, that is covered in red residue from an air drop of fire retardant, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. Italia's family lost everything in the fire earlier in the week and have no insurance or savings. The fires in southern Oregon have taken the most from those with the least, leveling multiple trailer parks in both Talent and nearby Phoenix.

It will take years to rebuild the homes lost in a single day to the September fires.

But the people who fled the fires need homes right now, a real trick in an already tight housing market. The process is trickier still for people who do not qualify for relief from FEMA or any other agency.

Talent Urban Renewal Agency (TURA) brought several entities and people together to work on the issue. We visit with Talent Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood, State Representative Pam Marsh, Phoenix-Talent School Superintendent Brent Barry, and People's Bank of Commerce CEO Ken Trautman.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Angela Decker is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Geoffrey Riley hosts the show.