‘Our town has burned’: Most of Paradise is lost after Camp Fire ravages the area
"The most beautiful place in the world," said 67-year-old
When
Only a charred shell is left of
The once-welcoming "Skyway" route that linked the Sierra foothills towns to
Cars -- many of them packed with belongings, now just burned shells -- litter the roads, abandoned by people who fled with law enforcement, fire crews, family or friends to save their lives.
The local McDonalds is gone. So is the Safeway, Ace Hardware and the AM/PM gas station where residents grabbed coffee and chatted on their way to jobs in
"It's just a little foothills town," said geographer
The region attracted early gold miners and loggers whose fortunes rose and fell along with its ore and forests. It is rumored to have been named when an early entrepreneur arrived at his sawmill on a summer day in 1864, after a hot and dusty ride from the
After the population in
"Housing is cheap there. There are a lot of trailer parks, and some poverty," Chase said. "It's not on a route that's on your way to a destination, like Tahoe. It never really blossomed in that way."
On the edge of
By Friday night, it had consumed 70,000 acres and was only 5 percent contained. Strong northwest winds are pushing it northeast toward
The terrain is similar to what burned in
The fierce winds are reminiscent of those experienced during
Autumn is a transitional season, when the jet stream dips down and creates alternating high and low pressure systems over the
But what's unusual is the late start of the rainy season, said Swain. The region has seen only 0.7 inches of rain so far this rainfall year -- and it fell more than a month ago, in early October, and quickly evaporated.
"It's November and dry as a bone," said Swain.
Like many other parts of
As fires consumed the landscape, there were few roads upon which the rural residents had to escape, in a mad dash as the fire quickly closed in on them. Traffic backed up for hours on the few roads out of town, as people attempted to flee to
Even the fire station near
The first news reports they heard about the fire came hours after it had started around
Benefield started making calls. Her seven children all live in
As he drove away that afternoon, officials suggested he leave his truck and evacuate with them -- fewer vehicles on the road would make it easier to evacuate. Instead, he returned to the house to get his motorcycle and started down Skyway, riding on sidewalks to get around traffic. He pulled over to a shopping center to wait out the fire in the hopes that he could return home. But as he saw flames engulf nearby apartment buildings and approach a nearby
He rode through walls of flame down Skyway, trying to reach safety.
"I've never seen anything else like it," he said. In fact, he really couldn't see anything. Smoke filled his eyes and flames were everywhere. Almost miraculously, he said, he made it through the bursts of fire to safety in
He and Benefield spent the night at
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"If we have to start over," Dykes said with a shrug and a smile, "we will."
They won't know for sure until the evacuation order is lifted.
"But we're alive," Benefield said.
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