I was listening to a local call in radio show. Lars Larson. He had a fireman call in and explain about the cause of the fires going to fast. To start out with the terrain where Paradise was is like in a gully. The winds were blowing 55 mph. He said then fire creates its own wind so it was probably burning at 100mph. Then you have sparks which start a fire up ahead. Etc; etc so it is very possible for the fire to burn that fast.
Ok, it’s good to have that expert perspective. Just a bad location, it seems. I live in a holler, so the same terrain issues here!