TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The huge impact of the California fires could have a reach wide enough to affect job and housing markets here. Tucson homebuilding leaders are watching to see if California’s drive to rebuild will send Arizona workers there.
Homebuilding is still active here in Southern Arizona. Meanwhile in Southern California they’ll be turning soon to the question of rebuilding. The question that raises for Arizona is will that pull homebuilding resources to the West?”
The Los Angeles area fires have burned at least twelve thousand homes, businesses and schools and that number will most likely rise.
Once the fires are out, there will be an urgent drive to rebuild. But that will challenge an industry not really equipped to do so much building so quickly.
“It's going to take years and years to rebuild that. It's going to require an intense amount of resources, intense amount of time and money to be able to rebuild in a way that resembles anything like it was before.”
David Godlewski leads the Southern Arizona Home Builders Association. He says the fires will increase demand for skilled building craftspeople at a time when builders may have trouble finding enough workers for normal workloads.
“That's one of the challenges with continuing to build enough homes to meet the demand in our market. We just don't have enough people who are going into the trades. And so it is an impediment, in many ways, something that we're trying to work on for sure.”
Godlewski says it’s too soon to know if Tucson area craftspeople will stop working with builders here to take advantage of a job market in California desperate for construction labor and willing to pay top dollar for their skills—but he says workers may be inclined to stay in Tucson and continue to work with companies they are comfortable with.
