‘We got really lucky’: Why California escaped another destructive fire season in 2022
A massive California wildfire rages over a hilltop as fire crews battle nearby flames as they fight to protect homes and communities in the path of the Camp fire in Paradise. Friday, April 1, 2020. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Riverside, Calif. After a week of devastating fire, a massive, destructive fire is now a matter of months away from fully consuming what is left of the forest where the Camp fire once raged.
It is a devastating fact for a community that was once the pride of Southern California.
The community lost its historic town center and its water supply Friday morning as the Camp fire burned everything in its path. On Tuesday, the town of Paradise was already a ghost town, though police had yet to announce the death of its last resident.
“We lost everything,” said David L. Perry, the owner of Paradise High School. “There are no houses, no businesses. How do you rebuild a community like that?”
On Thursday, as the fire raged over the hills behind the school, smoke and ash continued to hang over city streets.
“It’s a strange feeling,” said student Brittany Anderson, who attended Paradise High School. “We all knew that there was a fire out there, but to see the amount of smoke, and the amount of destruction, it is really shocking.”
In the wake of Friday’s devastation, the community has found a solace in one of its most hallowed legends.
It is the story of the “Angel and the Devil” that first became part of the school curriculum when it was first taught in the 1930-40s and then was reinvented as the legend of the Camp fire. It has become a sort of mythic redemption story and the basis for a class project
