My home town is gone!

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Mar 13, 2017
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Chico, California
So I grew up in Paradise California. Prior to this week most of you had probably never even heard of this town. Now you see it on the news daily. I got into town for a little bit yesterday and what you see on the news does not do the magnitude of the disaster justice. It is gone. Everything is burnt to the ground. I live in Chico now so I am in good shape. Nearly every one of my friends lost everything. I know many people have a preconceived notion about anything California but I have to tell you Paradise could have been any town in Wyoming or Montana. Everyone hunts and fishes and we are a big group of proud rednecks. My life growing up was like any country song today. We liked trucks and old broncos and driving to the river and playing our music loud. We all new the words to every hank song and we sang them loud at parties where pallets were stacked to make raging bonfires
I am so sad for my friends. I am so sad for this town. It will never be the same. The death toll is going to be an unfathomable number when they finally stop counting. Many expect it to reach 1000. 40,000 will be left homeless.
I guess I just wanted to paint a picture of this town for all of you so you know what it was like. I think most don’t understand just how big and diverse California is. And how much so many of the people are just like you. I am just so sad today. As always, hug your friends and family and take stock in what you have. It can all be gone tomorrow.
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robby denning

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Thanks for letting us all know about this. You’re right, no clue what it’s like down there. I was just thinking last night that it must be worse than I imagine to actually kill that many people. Sad...


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Muttly

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Absolutely horrific.
Spent a couple years in Santa Rosa, anytime something is going on in Northern Cali, gets my attention. The fires there last fall were bad, I can not pretend to imagine what this one must be like.
 

sneaky

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I actually drove through there a couple weeks ago for work. There and Magalia too.

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sneaky

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You're right, though, that part of Cali is nothing like the coast. State of Jefferson signs everywhere, people want to be left alone.

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kicker338

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I was born and raised in nth Calif. left for Idaho 18 yrs. ago. A lot of memories were made there, mom and dad, and 2 brothers buried there.

In a nut shell there are a lot of good people there and nth. Calif. is a beautiful state, to bad the politics are just the opposite.
 
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I was born and raised in nth Calif. left for Idaho 18 yrs. ago. A lot of memories were made there, mom and dad, and 2 brothers buried there.

In a nut shell there are a lot of good people there and nth. Calif. is a beautiful state, to bad the politics are just the opposite.

I was also born and raised in NorCal but left as soon as I could at 21 and have only been back to visit family and friends. Beautiful place but the liberal government ruins it, at least that’s how I feel. Oh, and to the OP, I feel your pain, a very large part of my hometown (Santa Rosa), burned last year. My sister and several close family friends lost their homes (actually lost their entire neighborhoods), along with several historical landmarks. It’s a very sad situation for sure.


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Sorry for your loss brother. Thanks for putting some perspective on the situation. My knee jerk reaction to anything california is F-it. Again, sorry for your loss.
 

EastMT

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Some times we think of California as an entity rather than of the people there. Sure, there are plenty of Nancy Pelosi’s there, but lots of good decent folk also. I can’t imagine the pain of losing an entire community. Prayers for the missing and hoping they are found safe.


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Just delivered gas to the Valero in Paradise a few weeks back . Horrible tragedy i cant even imagine what its like. Donations are coming strong from the Modesto area. This is the kind of town Hank Williams Jr speaks of in country boy can survive when he mentions North California. Bless these people
 
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OP
Huntindog45
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Just delivered gas to the Valero in Paradise a few weeks back . Horrible tragedy i cant even imagine what its like. Donations are coming strong from the Modesto area. This is the kind of town Hank Williams Jr speaks of in country boy can survive when he mentions North California. Bless these people

I am working with a buddy who drove up
A tractor trailer rig full of supplies from Modesto. He is staying at my house and we are offloading tomorrow


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I am working with a buddy who drove up
A tractor trailer rig full of supplies from Modesto. He is staying at my house and we are offloading tomorrow


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Lot more coming your guys way , i know its a drop in the bucket compared to whats needed , if i can help you in anyway text or call me bud ill pm you my #
 
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Mid to late 90's my band used to play at a little club in Paradise, Rockys Club... Had a lot of fun there with some of the best people northern California has to offer. its a damn shame to lose such a beautiful place.
 
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Sorry for your loss brother. Thanks for putting some perspective on the situation. My knee jerk reaction to anything california is F-it. Again, sorry for your loss.

My thoughts and feelings mirror yours. Sadly my knee jerk reaction is also the same most of the time when it comes to the ruin or detriment of California. Yes, thanx again for the perspective O.P.
 

Beendare

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Yeah, CA is not all what you folks in other places see on the news. I can't remember the last time I paraded around in downtown SF in Chaps and no underwear....
________
We have let the environmentalists have their way here in Ca.....they need to take partial blame for these horrible fires.

Good commentary on the Camp Fire for this curious, link is to the Chico newspaper
Editorial: Camp Fire the tragedy we were all warned about – Chico Enterprise-Record

Partial, From link
“Nobody would have ever thought this could happen,” President Donald Trump said while touring the Camp Fire devastation Saturday.

That’s not true. The Camp Fire was inevitable. It is the event that so many dreaded for so long.

People prepared. Fire prevention officials planned. They drilled. They worked with homeowners. They invented fire-safe councils and Fire on the Ridge and sent fire prevention officials to schools via a program called Fire Pals. They raised money to keep fire lookouts open when the state said it wouldn’t.

Eventually, geography and topography proved to be the trap everyone thought it was.

Paradise and Magalia sit on top of a pine-studded ridge between several canyons. There are very few subdivisions. Instead, homes are built one at a time and tucked into trees. Fly over the area in a helicopter and those trees stand like matchsticks surrounding well-hidden homes.

Most cities have grass. Paradise’s predominant ground covering is pine needles — extremely flammable pine needles.

It wasn’t a well-planned city, but rather a village that grew into a city. The grid pattern of Paradise’s roads is haphazard. There are few arterials. Instead, there are two-lane roads without much connectivity. When people tried to evacuate in a flash, those bottlenecks were pronounced. Several people died in their cars, trapped by gridlock.

The large roads leading out of town aren’t large. Only Skyway is two lanes in both directions.

Then everyone wants to blame PGE [electric provider who is getting slammed from all sides, could go Bankrupt]

When PG&E went into Paradise earlier this year to cut trees that were near power lines, people complained. Pines were the very reason many people move to Paradise. They accepted the danger, despite warnings from so many people.
 
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sneaky

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100% right on those roads. Those things are a cluster##$%. I remember thinking that when I was up there a few weeks back. 900 turns to go 3 miles seemed like. There's a lot of those towns in that area that have that same setup. The enviros I doubt will ever accept responsibility for contributing to this scenario. Cal Fire, Trump, and global warming, along with PG&E will get the brunt of the blame.
Yeah, CA is not all what you folks in other places see on the news. I can't remember the last time I paraded around in downtown SF in Chaps and no underwear....
________
We have let the environmentalists have their way here in Ca.....they need to take partial blame for these horrible fires.

Good commentary on the Camp Fire for this curious, link is to the Chico newspaper
Editorial: Camp Fire the tragedy we were all warned about – Chico Enterprise-Record

Partial, From link


Then everyone wants to blame PGE [electric provider who is getting slammed from all sides, could go Bankrupt]

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Mt Al

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So sorry for all these people. It's horrific and really hard to imagine a whole community burning to the ground in the USA. Like "this can't happen here" type of thing - but it happened. Awful and hope your friends can rebuild.
 

RosinBag

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I am here working today to give the local guys a break and it is truest unbelievable. It looks like a bomb went off and vaporized 90% of Paradise and Magalia.
 

4rcgoat

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My thoughts and prayers go out to all affected in this tragedy. I grew up in southern California, left in 92,lots of good people there,obviously. My folks were going to pull the trigger on a beautiful place in Paradise earlier this year, they ended up in Arizona. Just cant imagine.
 
OP
Huntindog45
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There is so much shitty info about this fire. And starting to see it even in this thread..Most of the fire (about 98%) on the first couple days it blew up occurred on private land that has been intensely logged and in fact burned 10 years ago. To read comment sections you would think it was all old growth forest that was all beetle killed and sitting there waiting t to be logged but held up by environmentalists. That just isn’t true... of course now we learn that if we had just raked our leaves like they do in Finland this would not have occurred.


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