by John Mitchell
Nestled in the tall pine trees of the Sierra Nevada foothills the rural town of roughly 26,000 residents, Paradise, California has long been known as a peaceful, tranquil community where the hustle, bustle and rush of nearby Sacramento and San Francisco were replaced by a slower pace of living. The home to families that in some cases had been living there for generations valued its quiet streets lined by beautiful tall pine trees, the ability to leave their doors unlocked when they went out shopping, to church, or visiting in the area. Most agreed living in their small town was indeed “Paradise”.
All this changed on November 8, 2018, when a fire was reported at 6:33 a.m. PST, close to Camp Creek Road near Pulga, California in Butte County, California. Shortly after the fire erupted, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office ordered the evacuation of the eastern quarter of Paradise, and the remaining portions one hour later. Other locations were also issued evacuation orders and emergency shelters were established.
On the same day, much of the town of Paradise and nearby communities of Concow and Magalia were destroyed by this fire. Scott McLean, a California Fire Captain, said, “We’re talking devastated … The town center is completely on the ground. The south side as well as the north side has been hit very hard as well.”
Dozens of people died in Paradise, as well as the adjoining small communities of Concow, and Magalia. The total as of this writing is 77 people perished with many found burned beyond recognition in their vehicles trying to escape the fast moving flames. The videos from cell phones and news media as they fled are truly terrible to watch. Many others were displaced or missing, seeking refuge in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Chico, California, a nearby town 15 miles from Paradise. Known as the “Camp Fire,” it has destroyed as of this writing more than 10,500 homes and torched an area the size of Chicago with the magnitude of this devastation expected to go much higher. This fire is now considered the most destructive fire in California history, but the Camp Fire probably won’t be fully contained until November 30, according to Cal Fire, the state’s forestry and fire protection agency.
The Real Estate marketing firm Zillow listed 186 homes in Paradise for sale on November 7, ranging in price from $149,900.00 to $3,950,000.00. At the end of the next day there were 0 listed homes in Paradise for sale as the Camp Fire sped through the area burning a football field-size area every second, destroying everything in its path. The residents of these homes, from the wealthy to those who were just under the poverty line in income, fled together in whatever manner they could to escape the flames and survive.
Vehicles were abandoned as they caught fire and the occupants fled on foot with flames roaring around them on both sides of the roads and in most cases unable to see more than two or three feet in front of them. Firefighters from Paradise fought the flames as long as they could and then had to flee as well with law enforcement and first responders. As the crews fled they knew their homes too were being totally destroyed by this wall of flame.
Gathering in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Chico they tried to come to grips with this disaster. There were tents, campers and motor homes with many having to sleep in their cars or on the bare ground in 40 degree nights.
Relief agencies, churches and citizens began to arrive to help these hapless victims trying to provide what they could for so many people. One man looked into the news camera with tears in his eyes and said, ”Our family has nothing, nothing but the clothes we have on. It would be so good if someone would give us some toothbrushes and tooth paste, a bar of soap and if possible maybe a towel. We just want to get cleaned up a little and feel like there may be some hope for us.” One lady stated, “We have lived in Paradise for over forty years and everything is gone. We may rebuild…or not. What hurts the most is the loss of all our memories in the pictures, the videos and letters we treasured of our family and friends of so many years. All our records, marriage license, even our drivers license as we did not have time to grab anything––just run for our lives it came on us so quickly. It was so terrible I cannot describe it!”
On and on the stories of total loss and complete devastation continued from shocked eyes, numb hearts and trembling voices as people continued to recount what happened to them. The phrase “Biblical proportions” was frequently uttered by the survivors. What happens now is the burning question left behind by the worst wildfire in California’s history.
