Paradise, California: a foothill town that occupies a ridge top that overlooks the northern section of the Sacramento Valley. This town of 27,000 residents enjoys warm days over the heat of the valley found in its neighbor, Chico, which is bisected by the Sacramento River. Chico is a college town, home of Chico State University. The students are a presence on the local landscape. But not many make it up the hill to Paradise. Not muchthere for the under 25 crowd. Paradise has a few chain restaurants, some shopping, and mostly those necessities for the retired life.
The wildfire that has transformed this formerly vibrant community has destroyed the town, reducing almost 7,000 structures to smoking rubble. More than 30 citizens have died in the inferno and many more are missing. PG&E appears to again have been culpable as power lines are suspected to have been the source of the fire. Evacuation orders came too late for the dead, and Cal Fire appears to have been late to the game. Despite budget improvements, CalFire does not seem up to the job. A new, national fire service is in order-now.
The Grand Toady in the White House says the California forests are mismanaged. This could be an understatement. As another fire in Southern california terrorizes the coastal city of Malibu, the Governor -Elect Gavin Newsom will soon have his spin doctors spewing verbal garbage to reassure the terrorized citizenry. Poor Gavin, so much work to be done, too little skills in his possession. Time will tell how Paradise will recover, but if the City of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County is any example, it will be a long, long time before any real recovery takes place near Chico.
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