A wary and traumatized Paradise watches the raging inferno from nearby California fires
CNNCNN — On Wednesday morning, with the skies dimmed by the smoke from nearby wildfires, Paradise, California, resident Mary Ludwig got out of bed and started filling laundry baskets with personal belongings. After escaping from the Camp Fire two years ago on a school bus with more than 20 students, she knows one thing: “I can never be trapped like that again.” “Nothing is worth my life, my son’s life,” she said. A march to put life back together Kevin McKay, the “hero” school bus driver who drove Ludwig, another teacher and 22 stranded students to safety almost two years ago lost his home and all his belongings in the Camp Fire. On Wednesday, McKay woke up to skies blackened by smoke and ash coating everything, he told CNN, “very much looking like the Camp Fire, like Paradise.” “It’s unnerving to say the least,” he said. Video Ad Feedback Bus driver, student recall escape from fire 02:48 - Source: CNN “Since 2018, it’s been a march to kind of put life back together,” he said.