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

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.