Fatalities: No official reports of loss of life, but hundreds of cars were burned on the roads leading out of Paradise, a number of people were trapped in the town as fire raged through, including hundreds who took shelter in a K-Mart and also a Walgreens. It would not surprise me if dozens have died.
It appears that the Feather River Hospital was destroyed, though for a time, persistent reports came out that only outbuildings were destroyed. It is possible both stories were true - initially only a few outbuildings were lost, then the entire hospital was destroyed as winds shifted.
Overall, this is a shockingly tragic event. Unfortunately, it is also something which might even get more tragic should high winds continue - Chico, like the little sister in the mountains, is also a town covered in very flammable trees.
But of course, another tragedy took place last night near Los Angeles which involved a gun, so it might be a week or so before you hear about this on your news... Meanwhile thousands more are being told to prepare to be evacuated.
The current evacuation list is here at this link:
https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/Camp-Fire-Current-Evacuation-Orders—500060821.html
There’s a second huge fire just northwest of LA- the Woolsey Fire
Terrifying- I hope the hospital had been fully evacuated?
Just damn.
Prayers - about all I can do from the Rockies at this time.
Arson?
Seems like its always some homeless lunatic starting fires out there.
Prayers up.
Just met my wife and her mom in Oroville after they barely escaped the fire on Pentz Rd. Passed at least one hundred fire rigs heading up to Paradise as we headed home to the Bay Area.
My wife and I raised our three boys in Paradise. We left some 15 years ago. My father-in law lives there with his wife. They evacuated about 2:00 and got out safely.
Paradise is mostly a retirement community. So many old people probably did not get out in time. I fear the worst. Please pray for them all..
just wow. It’s been a rough day in California - disaster north disaster south. Paradise was an old town - lots of antique shops if I’m thinking of the right place.
It is very, very bad. But some good news. I was able to get ahold of WB6IAG and K6PBT. They are alive and relatively well. Evacuated.
Ron and jhis wife got stuck in Paradise and had to shelter in a building as fires burned all around. Gas Stations blew up...fire fighters were calling for more water as I heard on the frequencies. I didn’t know that Ron was still stuck up there. I talked to him a little after 8 this morning. He was gathering the critters up. (as well as radios to I imagine) He said the fire was a mile away...a few minutes later it was a block away. It was estimated at one point the fire was consuming 80 footballs fields per minute. Or...it traveled some 20 miles in 12 hours.
As of this moment buses are getting ready to evacuate the community of Forest Ranch...
As for K6PBT...I sent an email and an hour ago he wrote back. Doing well and in Chico. These are elderly hams and mobility is an issue. Paradise had a lot of elderly living there. Lots...
The whole town is gone...literally. devastated....gone. a whole town. 25k+ residents. gone....
The fire is moving into the eastern parts of Chico at this moment and south towards Oroville, (my location.) We should be safe through the night. East parts of Chico not so safe. They are evacuating now.
Its bizarre. The photos are stunning. Imagine a glowing red black night of hell, except its eleven in the morning elsewhere. Surreal.
Been scanning all the frequencies. There have been brave acts by firefighters. People fleeing for their lives from cars stuck on escape routes. There hasn’t been real talk of deaths...but we know that there are. How many? Don’t know. Have heard that some people may have perished in their cars. Don’t know if that is true. How many old people have died in their homes confused with power out and no way to communicate to the outside world?
PG and E cut power. They played it safe. In some areas they cut power prior to the fire to prevent swinging power lines from arcing. Winds have been bad.
Those that wonder if it was terrorism, homeless, etc...don’t know the area and are barking up the wrong tree. How the fire started out on Camp Creek Road has yet to be determined. Maybe it was the winds blowing at 50 mph down the Feather River Canyon that had something to do with it.
Early this morning when I looked out the window the “thunderhead” plumes of some were quite visibile over the tree line. The fire was said to be 2K acres then. By early afternoon it was 18K acres. More than 20K now. It moved fast. Absolutely no containment as of yet.
Horses are running wild down roadways looking for safety. There was no time to load them up and take them somewhere. People left with what was on their backs. They opened the gates and hoped for the best. What were they supposed to do?
No hotel rooms for 75 miles around.
Paradise gone...Magalia next...Chico threatened, Forest Ranch on the list.
And that is the report as of this moment.
Am I just dense? When I was a Boy Scout we built a fire when we went camping and we called that a campfire. We didn’t ever call a forest fire the Camp Fire. There is no town named Camp. There is no mountain range named Camp. Why are they calling this the Camp Fire?
Cannot believe in one afternoon, the town of Paradise is gone.
Those dead trees needed to be cut down immediately. This is a manmade natural disaster, the ecoterrorists are too blame.
I don’t know the geography. How does this affect Cal State Chico? A few thousand people attend college there, right?
This is tragedy.
Not only because of the lives uprooted and home/property destroyed.
But also because the most beautiful piece of countryside in America is burned to the ground.
They named the town Paradise for a reason.
You can probably thank the greens who pushed through regulations preventing the thinning out of undergrowth and removal of dead wood because it would inconvenience some bug or critter.
https://mobile.twitter.com/VCscanner?p=s
I’m surprised there isn’t an ongoing live thread on FR for these fires. I know it’s busy news day...but FR always has live threads for emergency events.
The #WoolseyFire has caused an evacuation order for Malibu. The #CampFire is growing still and so both NoCa and SoCa are fighting life-theatening fires.
Pepperdine is under a partial evac order, parts of the 101 are shut down, it’s awful. We have friends up north near Butte Canyon who have evac’d.
arson?
So many outbreaks, sounds like terrorism arson.
It might have been worse if this brave nurse and his fellow workers hadn’t worked to save patients at the doomed hospital.
“Toyota offers to give Camp Fire hero nurse a new truck!”
https://www.foxnews.com/auto/toyota-offers-to-give-camp-fire-hero-nurse-a-new-truck