You might remember the town of Paradise, CA.
Five years ago today, the "Camp Fire" sparked at around 6:30 in the morning, and by nightfall, all of Paradise was gone. The fire was active for 17 days and scorched more than 153,000 acres. The town of Paradise held a moment of silence today for 85 seconds - one for each of the people who lost their lives that day--Nov 8, 2018
The town's population went from 26,000 residents to zero overnight. Five years later, Paradise has rebounded, becoming the fastest-growing town in California, with a population of 9,142. It is now home to families relocating and returning residents.
Eighty-five people died, and more than 18,000 homes and businesses were destroyed. The comeback has been slow, but steady. Officials said 21% of the homes that were lost have been rebuilt, and about 1,000 more homes are currently under construction.
Today, we visited Paradise on the fifth anniversary of the fire. As noted, several new homes have been built. I can't say rebuilt -- there was nothing left to rebuild. One returning resident showed a picture of his "house" when he began the rebuild in 2022.
As we drove through town, we saw many "driveways to nowhere", similar to those we saw in Redding, CA that same year. (Different fire.)
Note that most of the trees had to be cut down, as the fire killed them. A few lots had relics of previous possessions still on site. Insurance negotiations???
As we often do, we stayed at the Elks Lodge --- in the old location, but brand new. Ten thousand square feet!!. With only 400 members, I wondered how they could maintain such a splendid new place, and offered a donation for the mortgage fund. A former Exalted Ruler (serving as a bartender in the all-volunteer lodge) stated that insurance coverage had covered the entire rebuild --- the lodge had no mortgage. He said the lodge, and thousands of others were awaiting settlement of claims against the power company which has been blamed for the start of the fire. (He thought the lodge might get ten bucks, if anything, out of a future settlement.)
On a happier note, we found just outside of town, "Lookout Point", an overview of the valley, with a long walkway and a chain-link fence. A tradition has developed for couples to attach a lock to the fence to signify their love for each other. A lot of locks. A quarter mile or so of locks.
