Paradise, Calif., was devastated by the Camp fire in 2018. Five years later, its residents have mixed feelings on the town that has risen from the ashes, and the lives they have rebuilt.
Whipping winds, a sky blackened by smoke. Fear, urgency and then panic as gridlock stymied escape and flames closed in, making car windows too hot to touch.
Last week, the signs of recovery were everywhere in Paradise. Starbucks bustled, shoppers filled the Save Mart and school buses navigated their charges to and from the first days of classes. The town is home to about 9,200 people, said Mayor Greg Bolin, down from about 27,000 before the fire. New homes stretched for miles. About 500 were built last year alone, up from two or three a year before the fire, Bolin said.
“The rebuild is amazing,” she said. “It’s cool to see houses being built, and people coming home, and new people moving in and taking pride in our community.” In 2021, on the third anniversary of the fire, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced that it had removed tens of thousands of dead and dying trees and cleaned thousands of properties. In 2022, his office announced an additionalOn top of all that, Bolin said the city has netted, after expenses, about $220 million from a settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric, whose power lines ignited the fire, killing 85 people.
“You did that for likes,” he said. “If you really cared, we would be taken care of, and we are in your town.” “The mayor said, we don’t want this looking like a trailer park,” Stokes said. “But you know, until people get their money from PGE and can rebuild, that’s how it’s going to look.” Bolin said the accusations that town leaders are trying to drive out poor residents are “very hurtful because that’s not the case at all.”“This is not a town where we want to continue to have people live in trailers,” he said. “It’s just very tough. I’ve lost a lot of friends in this situation. You just have to keep doing what’s right for the majority of the town.”For some Paradise survivors, the aftermath of the fire brought the realization that Paradise was part of their past.
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