Five Years After Devastating Fire, the Town of Paradise Rebuilds

Five years ago, what would become the deadliest wildfire in California history erupted in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

The Camp fire, which charged through the Butte County town of Paradise, killed 85 people and razed more than 90 percent of the community’s homes. It was an exceptionally tragic week for California: On Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp fire and the Woolsey fire broke out, the latter of which burned so many homes in Malibu that it ranks among the 10 most destructive wildfires in California history. The previous night, 12 people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks.

But the tragedy with the greatest national resonance was the fire that destroyed Paradise. The fast-moving blaze revealed just how dangerous wildfires fueled by climate change could be, and it brought renewed focus to improving forest management, moving power lines underground and planning for disaster evacuations in communities across California. The Camp fire remained the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history until this summer, when another drought-fueled conflagration on the Hawaiian island of Maui killed at least 99 people.

Now, Paradise has become an experiment in rebuilding after extreme disaster.

Mark Arax, a journalist, recently visited Paradise and wrote about efforts to climate-proof the town as people return. The revival is powered by more than $1 billion of state and federal assistance, as well as roughly $220 million from a settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric, whose power lines ignited the fire. PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for those killed in Paradise.

“Everyone who outran the flames that morning, dodging flying embers and bullets that ricocheted from stashes of ammo, might have kept on running,” Arax wrote in a guest essay for the Opinion section. “The state of California — which had been blind to a century of bad planning here, yet aimed to be a leader in climate resiliency — might have stepped in and declared Paradise an unfit place to grow again. Instead, its rebuilding was framed as a test of human fortitude, and a mighty river of federal and state aid poured in. From canyon to canyon the sound of hammers and nails, buzz saws and stump grinders, echoed.”

In Paradise, electrical and broadband cables have been buried in the ground to prevent new fires and evacuation routes have been widened. New construction follows rigorous wildland-urban interface standards, crews have removed thousands of trees, and the city has deployed a siren system to warn of emergencies. There’s a new Building Resiliency Center, donated by the Bank of America, where residents will be able to learn ways to keep fire at bay.

But even five years after the fire, the numbers have not returned. The population has fallen to around 9,000 from roughly 26,000. Today, there are fewer than 4,000 houses and 450 businesses in Paradise, compared with 12,000 homes and 1,500 businesses before November 2018.

Arax writes that Paradise will need twice as many homes and businesses to keep its economy afloat when the PG&E money runs dry in two decades, meaning over a decade of nonstop building. And those who do want to live in Paradise may face another hurdle: Some residents are looking at five-figure insurance premiums to stay.

“We traded one Paradise for another,” Lenny McAfee, a construction worker who lives in Paradise, told Arax. “The question is: Is it sustainable?”

Where we’re traveling

Today’s tip comes from Mark Moore, who recommends Sequoia National Park:

“When you drive up the mountain and get to about 6,000 feet you are suddenly in the Land of the Giants. These sequoia trees are the largest on earth, including the park’s star attraction, the General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world. The surrounding area is beautiful and peaceful. The pathways are wonderfully maintained and easy to walk. There is a very large meadow completely surrounded by sequoias which makes for an excellent and easy hike. The small community of Three Rivers is next to the park entrance and many of the lodges and restaurants back up to a large and beautiful river.

This is a great time to go. Check it out. Oh, one last thing. The stargazing is incredible. Just time your visit around a new moon.”

Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to [email protected]. We’ll be sharing more in upcoming editions of the newsletter.

Tell us

I’m thinking about how Californians celebrate Thanksgiving. By the beach? With sourdough stuffing?

Email your Golden State Thanksgiving traditions to [email protected]. Please include your full name and the city in which you live.

And before you go, some good news

Thousands of people, most likely more than 200,000, turned out on Sunday for the 44th annual Nagar Kirtan in Yuba City, a giant festival and parade honoring Sikh and Punjabi culture, and one of the largest Sikh gatherings outside of India.

The celebration in Northern California included food, dancing and colorful floats. The crowd, which included people from across the country and around the world, was so large this year that it surpassed the population of Sutter County, which contains Yuba City, Fox40 News reports.

For many, the event is a joyous and important moment to join together in celebration. And this year, even those who couldn’t attend found a way to join the merrymaking, with some attendees video-calling family members who were far away so they could participate virtually.

“It’s a good way to experience our culture,” Jaskaran Heer, who lives in Yuba City, told the outlet. “We’re always happy to have more people come and see and learn more about the religion with us.”