Must Reads: Here’s how Paradise ignored warnings and became a deathtrap
6 years, 3 months ago

Must Reads: Here’s how Paradise ignored warnings and became a deathtrap

LA Times  

Embers blow in the wind as the Camp fire burns a KFC restaurant in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 8. In the aftermath of the Camp fire — 86 dead, more than 13,900 homes destroyed and Paradise decimated — local and state officials said the tragedy was unforeseen and unavoidable, an “unprecedented” monster of fire. “Or they’ll think, ‘It was terrible for Paradise, but it won’t happen to me.’” × Drone video showing charred remains of the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park after the Camp fire An imperfect place Paradise was built upon a system of volcanic ledges bisected by a fan of deep ravines emptying into the Sacramento Valley. But the 2005 state fire management plan for the ridge, developed in consultation with some of those same Paradise planners, warned that canyon winds posed a “serious threat” to Paradise. “You’ve got to recognize the risk.” Firebrands and embers The Feather River Canyon, where the Camp fire began, was well-known for high winds.

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History of this topic

His town burned in California’s most destructive fire. This is his advice for rebuilding in L.A.
2 months, 1 week ago

His town burned in California’s most destructive fire. This is his advice for rebuilding in L.A.

LA Times  

Greg Bolin returned to his home in Paradise, Calif., to find his wife in tears. It’s just a lot of work.” Healing a broken community “You’ve got to get your schools, your churches and your businesses open yesterday,” Bolin recalled the Federal Emergency Management Agency telling him after the fire. “If you don’t, people will have nothing to do, and …

Crews battle wildfires across the US West and fight to hold containment lines
8 months ago

Crews battle wildfires across the US West and fight to hold containment lines

Associated Press  

FOREST RANCH, Calif. — Wildfires across the western United States and Canada put millions of people under air quality alerts on Sunday as thousands of firefighters battled the flames, including the largest wildfire in California this year. However, Cal Fire operations section chief Jeremy Pierce had some good news for the area, saying around midday that the Park Fire’s southernmost …

Five years after the Camp fire, Paradise survivors see a hard future for Maui
1 year, 7 months ago

Five years after the Camp fire, Paradise survivors see a hard future for Maui

LA Times  

Whipping winds, a sky blackened by smoke. “It’s cool to see houses being built, and people coming home, and new people moving in and taking pride in our community.” Miller, who grew up in Paradise, was living in Texas at the time of the fire — she and her husband had moved there six months prior for his job. But …

Paradise again threatened as deadly fires push toward towns gutted by 2018 inferno
4 years, 6 months ago

Paradise again threatened as deadly fires push toward towns gutted by 2018 inferno

LA Times  

A November 2018 photo of Paradise High School. Two years after being decimated by the worst blaze in California history, the town of Paradise was again under threat, this time from the deadly North Complex fire. Butte County sheriff’s officials issued an evacuation order for Pulga and Concow and an evacuation warning for the town of Paradise, which was mostly …

A wary and traumatized Paradise watches the raging inferno from nearby California fires
4 years, 6 months ago

A wary and traumatized Paradise watches the raging inferno from nearby California fires

CNN  

CNN — 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 …

A year after Paradise fire, California lawmakers hope to keep history from repeating
5 years, 4 months ago

A year after Paradise fire, California lawmakers hope to keep history from repeating

LA Times  

Many of the 85 killed in last year’s Camp fire died in their cars trying to flee Paradise, Calif., which has few routes leading out. “All we could hear is explosions around us,” Scott Salsbury said, describing the panic and anxiety his family experienced as they evacuated the town of Paradise during the Camp fire last November. A dire need …

Safety questions still swirl in Paradise year after wildfire
5 years, 4 months ago

Safety questions still swirl in Paradise year after wildfire

Associated Press  

PARADISE, Calif. — There was “no way in hell” Victoria Sinclaire was rebuilding in Paradise. “You’d hear hammers and chain saws and nail guns.” Wildfire mitigation consultant Zeke Lunder fears Paradise is setting itself up for another disaster. “As we saw in the Camp Fire, the town’s really well set up to kill people with wildfire,” said Lunder, who lives …

Safety questions still swirl in Paradise year after wildfire
5 years, 4 months ago

Safety questions still swirl in Paradise year after wildfire

Associated Press  

PARADISE, Calif. — There was “no way in hell” Victoria Sinclaire was rebuilding in Paradise. “As we saw in the Camp Fire, the town’s really well set up to kill people with wildfire,” said Lunder, who lives in nearby Chico. “If you take away all the trees, it’s what we’re here for, is for the trees,” resident Vincent Childs told …

Residents Of Paradise And Other Towns Destroyed By Wildfire Must Wait To Go Home
6 years, 1 month ago

Residents Of Paradise And Other Towns Destroyed By Wildfire Must Wait To Go Home

NPR  

Residents Of Paradise And Other Towns Destroyed By Wildfire Must Wait To Go Home Enlarge this image toggle caption Kirk Siegler/NPR Kirk Siegler/NPR Three months have passed since the deadly Camp Fire devastated towns in the mountains of Butte County, Calif., leaving residents with burned-out properties covered with potentially toxic debris. Enlarge this image toggle caption Kirk Siegler/NPR Kirk Siegler/NPR …

Camp fire survivors trickle back into Paradise and surrounding communities. Some never left
6 years, 3 months ago

Camp fire survivors trickle back into Paradise and surrounding communities. Some never left

LA Times  

Kevin Jeys sits inside the home he never left during the Camp fire. “A little different.” After the last of the evacuation orders were lifted, people began trickling back into Paradise and the hardest-hit areas. White signs around town were lettered with motivational phrases like “We will rebuild!” The post office opened this week and on Saturday, a local ice …

The Camp fire burned homes but left trees standing. The science behind the fire’s path
6 years, 4 months ago

The Camp fire burned homes but left trees standing. The science behind the fire’s path

LA Times  

An aerial view of destruction from the Camp fire in Paradise, Calif., off Clark Road. 1 / 37 Silence hangs over Paradise,Calif., after the explosive Camp fire burned through Butte County and claimed 23 lives. 3 / 37 US President Donald Trump views damage from wildfires with Paradise Mayor Jody Jones in Paradise, Calif. 4 / 37 President Donald Trump …

California fire: What started as a tiny brush fire became the state’s deadliest wildfire. Here’s how
6 years, 4 months ago

California fire: What started as a tiny brush fire became the state’s deadliest wildfire. Here’s how

LA Times  

A man rests at a shelter at the Church of the Nazarene in Oroville, Calif. Megan Butler, 26, and her daughter Aurora, 2, are homeless after their house burned down in Concow in the Camp fire. Alexandria Wilson, 21, consoles her boyfriend, Jacob Golden, 25, as they recount their harrowing escape from the Camp Fire at a relative’s house in …

Paradise lost: How California’s deadliest wildfire unfolded
6 years, 4 months ago

Paradise lost: How California’s deadliest wildfire unfolded

CNN  

CNN — What started as the wind-driven wildfires common in California escalated into fast-moving infernos, roaring through homes and sending thousands fleeing in the middle of the night. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images Lidia Steineman, who lost her home in the Camp Fire, prays during a vigil for fire victims on November 18 in Chico, California. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images Firefighters work to …

As California’s deadliest wildfire closed in, evacuation orders were slow to arrive
6 years, 4 months ago

As California’s deadliest wildfire closed in, evacuation orders were slow to arrive

LA Times  

Aerial view of destruction from the Camp fire in Paradise off of Clark Road. 6 / 37 A crew recovers the remains of a dog on Lawndale Lane in Paradise, Calif. 7 / 37 A horse at the Butte County Fairgrounds has its owner’s phone number on its neck 8 / 37 Outside of Pulga, Calif., on the North Fork …

Despite fire after fire, Paradise continued to boom — until California’s worst wildfire hit
6 years, 4 months ago

Despite fire after fire, Paradise continued to boom — until California’s worst wildfire hit

LA Times  

Paradise boomed over the last four decades as a popular retirement spot even though fires destroyed homes every few years. Johnson has been living in Paradise for 48 years and says of the fire, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” 12 / 37 The sun rises over the burned hills near Paradise, Calif., as the Camp fire continues to burn. …

Death toll from the Paradise fire jumps to 42, making it the worst in California history
6 years, 4 months ago

Death toll from the Paradise fire jumps to 42, making it the worst in California history

LA Times  

The evacuation of patients continues at the Feather River Hospital in Paradise. Hospital workers embrace as they evacuate patients from the Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Calif. Hillery Johnson prepares to leave here horse, Augie in a shopping center parking lot after law enforcement officers said it was time to leave as the Camp fire approached and there is no …

Stunning NASA Photos Show California's Devastating Wildfires From Space
6 years, 4 months ago

Stunning NASA Photos Show California's Devastating Wildfires From Space

Huff Post  

Satellite photos captured by NASA show how large California’s wildfires have become as they continue to burn vast areas of the state. In the photos below, taken from NASA’s Terra satellite on Friday, massive plumes of smoke can be seen drifting over the Pacific Ocean from fires in Northern and Southern California. The Camp fire in Northern California has devastated …

Video Of California Wildfires Is A Driving Tour Through Hell
6 years, 4 months ago

Video Of California Wildfires Is A Driving Tour Through Hell

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING Video from one of the communities hit hardest by wildfires raging in California is a horrifying road trip through hell. In the clip, posted to Facebook by Brynn Parrott Chatfield on Thursday, two people in a car race along a highway surrounded by flames as one of the occupants prays for safety. Things always work out, but …

Paradise fire becomes one of California’s worst: 6,700 structures lost; at least nine dead
6 years, 4 months ago

Paradise fire becomes one of California’s worst: 6,700 structures lost; at least nine dead

LA Times  

The evacuation of patients continues at the Feather River Hospital in Paradise. Hospital workers embrace as they evacuate patients from the Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Calif. Hillery Johnson prepares to leave here horse, Augie in a shopping center parking lot after law enforcement officers said it was time to leave as the Camp fire approached and there is no …

Hundreds trapped and thousands flee an area of northern California as blaze swells to 5,000 acres
6 years, 4 months ago

Hundreds trapped and thousands flee an area of northern California as blaze swells to 5,000 acres

Daily Mail  

A town of 27,000 people has been ‘pretty much destroyed’ by a raging wildfire that forced terrified residents to flee their homes clutching pets and babies and collapsing pillions fell across roads. A PG&E truck makes its way past a hot spot fire in Paradise, California A firefighter directs an unidentified driver who narrowly survived after a large tree fell …

Paradise, Calif., Destroyed By Wildfire, Authorities Say
6 years, 4 months ago

Paradise, Calif., Destroyed By Wildfire, Authorities Say

NPR  

Paradise, Calif., Destroyed By Wildfire, Authorities Say Enlarge this image toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Updated at 5:15 a.m. The Camp Fire started Thursday morning near Paradise, a town of around 27,000 people some 90 miles north of Sacramento. Enlarge this image toggle caption Noah Berger/AP Noah Berger/AP "Pretty much the community of Paradise is destroyed, it's …

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