Five years after a devastating fire, the town of Paradise is rebuilt
Five years ago, what would become the deadliest wildfire in California history broke out in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The Camp Fire, which ripped through the Butte County town of Paradise, killed 85 people and destroyed more than 90 percent of the community’s homes. It was an exceptionally tragic week for California: On November 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 night before, twelve 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 fire revealed how dangerous wildfires fueled by climate change could be, and brought renewed attention to improving forest management, moving power lines underground and planning disaster evacuations in communities across California. The Camp Fire remained the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history until this summer, when a drought-related fire on the Hawaiian island of Maui killed at least 99 people.
Now Paradise has become an experiment in reconstruction after an extreme disaster.
Mark Arax, a journalist, recently visited Paradise and wrote about efforts to climate-proof the city as people return. The revival is made possible by more than $1 billion in state and federal aid, as well as about $220 million from a settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric, whose power lines sparked the fire. PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for those who were killed in Paradise.
“Anyone who fled the flames that morning, dodging flying embers and bullets ricocheting from the ammunition stores, might have kept running,” Arax wrote in a guest essay for the Opinion section. “The state of California—blind to a century of poor planning here, yet wanting to be a leader in climate resilience—could have stepped in and declared Paradise an unsuitable place for regrowth. Instead, its reconstruction was conceived as a test of human strength, and a mighty river of federal and state aid flowed in. From canyon to canyon resounded the sound of hammers and nails, circular saws and stump grinders.”
In Paradise, electricity and broadband cables have been buried in the ground to prevent new fires and evacuation routes have been widened. The new construction follows strict wilderness-city interface standards, crews have removed thousands of trees and the city has a siren system to warn of emergency situations. There is a new Building Resiliency Center, donated by Bank of America, where residents can learn ways to keep fire at bay.
But even five years after the fire, the numbers have not returned. The population has fallen from about 26,000 to about 9,000. Today, there are fewer than 4,000 homes and 450 businesses in Paradise, compared to 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 going if PG&E money dries up in 20 years, meaning more than a decade of nonstop construction. And those who do want to live in Paradise may face another obstacle: some residents are watching 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 travel to
Today’s tip comes from Mark Moore, who recommends it Sequoia National Park:
“When you drive up the mountain and reach about 1800 meters, you are suddenly in the Land of the Giants. These redwood trees are the largest in the world, including the park’s star attraction, the General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world. The area is beautiful and quiet. The trails are beautifully maintained and easy to hike. There is a very large meadow completely surrounded by redwoods, which makes for an excellent and easy walk. The small community of Three Rivers is located next to the park entrance and many of the lodges and restaurants border a large and beautiful river.
This is a great time to go. To look at. Oh, one last thing. The stargazing is incredible. Just plan your visit around a new moon.”
Tell us about your favorite places to visit in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will share more in future editions of the newsletter.
Tell us
I think about the way Californians celebrate Thanksgiving. At the beach? With sourdough filling?
Email your Golden State Thanksgiving traditions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. Please include your full name and the city where you live.
And before you go: good news
Thousands of people, most likely more than 200,000, showed up Sunday for the 44th annual Nagar Kirtan in Yuba City, a massive festival and parade celebrating Sikh and Punjabi culture, and one of the largest Sikh gatherings outside India.
The Northern California celebration 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 exceeded the population of Sutter County, where Yuba City is located. Fox40 News Reports.
For many, the event is a joyful and important moment to celebrate together. And this year, even those who couldn’t make it found a way to join in the celebration, with some attendees video calling distant relatives 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 are always happy to have more people join us and learn more about the religion.”