California wildfires spark need for skilled contractors

 

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KPIX/CNN) – The fires that raged across the North Bay are one of the worst disasters in California history. 43 people were killed. Thousands of homes were burned to the ground.

“What happened in the North BAY counties, it’s sad, but it did open a lot of work,” said Carpenters Training Committee member Mike Schulte.

Six months now since the devastating wildfires, a real need for contractors and construction workers to help get communities from Santa Rosa, Napa and Solano Counties back on their feet.

Neil Whitbeck, also with the Carpenters Training Committee, said, “There obviously is going to be a need for lots of tradespeople. I think we’d like to be on the forefront of providing our services for these communities to rebuild.”

From the Bay Area to Sacramento and up to the Oregon border, headhunters are scouting for workers to fill the dire need.

Whitbeck explained, “We are looking for all kinds of people interested in the building trade, this is a very active time for the building trades and the young people are gonna be the future of this trade.”

At a job fair in Fairfield Friday, dozens of trade employers were on-hand, ready to hire.

And a Napa high school student was there, eager to learn. “I’m interested in joining the businesses and landscaping,” Juan Madrigal said.

The requirements for the carpenter apprenticeship is a high school diploma or GED and entry level positions start at 23 to 27 dollars an hour.

Schulte said, “The apprenticeship runs 4 years, working 48 hundred hours, and taking a number of classes.”

Communities looking to rebuild. Depending on skilled workers to step up and help turn the ash and rubble into a place they can call home.

“When a natural disaster happens, it does open up the construction trade, and sadly at the loss of people who lost their homes, it’s putting people to work,” Schulte said.

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