![]() ![]() ![]() Additionally, the large number of homes (140) affected in this tragedy were constructed after the 2008 adoption of exterior building codes for homes located in the wildland-urban-interface (WUI). This made it more like a controlled experiment where the fire variables were held relatively constant. With emergency response centered around saving lives, a home surviving was in large part the result of the condition of that home, its immediate surroundings and luck, rather than firefighters intervening. The fire passed through and around the town in a very short period of time under sustained winds. ![]() All of this work made a difference, especially in the evacuation process as some streets were safer to travel on, and there was a planned refuge area where evacuees sheltered as the fire passed around them.įrom a researcher’s perspective, what caught our eyes about Paradise were the 2018 Camp Fire’s burning conditions. Paradise had had some close calls with wildfire in the past, and Butte County’s Fire Safe Council and other groups were working hard to reduce understory forest fuels. ![]() The views are amazing, and the region’s Ponderosa pine and California black oak stands provide shade and comfort. Paradise is a retirement town, a bedroom community to Chico, and a place I would choose to live. It was built over many decades, with the bulk of its homes developed during the 1950s to the 1980s when the cognitive risk of wildfire was much lower. However, between growing public awareness of the risks, increased state and federal funding, changing policies and codes and human interest in self-preservation, adaptation and survival of our built environment to fire has a much better chance now than it did just a few years ago. Still, we know that the challenges to change are significant. This led us to a good discussion point- does this give us a reason for hope? We both concluded that having clear scientific evidence does fill our optimism buckets. We were frankly surprised that we did in fact find strong statistical signals that can help us all adapt our homes and environments to fire exposures. Eric said to me on the drive yesterday that when we started this analysis project, he wondered whether strong effects would be found, given the inherent randomness of fire and the many variables at play. Valachovic)Įric and I recently finished an analysis of the factors that influenced home survival in the single-family homes in Paradise during the Camp Fire, and our paper was published in the October edition of Fire Ecology. John’s wort (in the foreground) begin to grow back. These locations now wait for a new future while landscape plants such as St. This 2018-2021 photo comparison shows the amount of materials that had to be removed. Paradise had numerous mobile home parks that were particularly vulnerable to wildfire. The air was clear and there was an ever-present hum of saws, hammers and people working in the background. Places, where destroyed businesses and homes have been cleared, are marked by shallow depressions exposing the red soil where foundations once sat and contractors and trucks are everywhere. Most of the signs of the fire are gone, dead and hazardous trees are removed, damaged buildings have been repaired. The flags added to the day’s significance as there is much to remember and grieve. As we drove into town, the street was lined with American flags in anticipation of Veterans Day. The sun was out, and the skies were dotted by pre-storm altocumulus clouds sending their warning that a storm was on the way. I had planned to spend the day there with my colleague Eric Knapp, USDA Forest Service Fire Ecologist, to take a few photos and look at how the rebuilding process is going. Without intention, I found myself in Paradise, California, on November 8th, the 3rd anniversary of the start of the Camp Fire. Here Yana shares an account of a recent visit to Paradise, California while researching impacts and recovery three years after the Camp Fire. She is a registered professional forester and scientist whose skills and interests cover a broad set of natural resource fields, including fire protection issues for the built environment. Yana is passionate about helping communities learn to live with wildfire. Editors’ Note: Yana Valachovic is the County Director – Forest Advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. ![]()
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