Reclamation on the Ridge

What do you think mountain towns burned by a raging wildfire, lasting 17 days and destroying 18,793 structures would look like? Close your eyes; work to imagine it. Do you see chimneys, surviving sentinels marking the edges of homes that were incinerated? Does it look like burnt cars, the glass blown out, melted smooth around […]

The mural wasn’t a phenomenon right away. That first mural of a young woman’s face painted in black and white. It’s on the only remnants of the home of an old friend: their chimney. It was through Facebook that Shane Grammer’s mural became an international sensation. It was just a piece of art he did […]

Sophia’s Owner Lok Keobouahom describes what actions were necessary to reopen his restaurant after the wildfire occurred.

Outside a warehouse bereft of an operating thermostat, cold in appearance with its barren cemented walls, with pipes and lights being the only objects that could make one’s eyes jump, there is a camper parked on gravel that has acted as a makeshift home for two women. Joy Smith, who is the executive director at […]

“Do you want a fatboy?!” Kim Dady yelled to her husband Chris for the second time, as she climbed into their trailer to grab some money to buy lunch.  Chris was busy working hard on their property, situated on a tall hill overlooking a ravine in Concow, California. Concow is an unincorporated community situated in […]

How volunteers from Paradise Alliance Church take action to reunite their community.

Art is often used as a form of healing after a traumatic event. People look for ways to express themselves, using the pain and hurt in their world to inspire and create. For Camp Fire survivors, the world of art is not lost to them. The area around Paradise and Chico is very creative, with […]

“On the night of October 8, 1871, Peshtigo, a booming town of 1700 people, was wiped out of existence in the greatest forest fire disaster in American history,” a plaque at the Peshtigo Fire Cemetery reads. “Loss of life and even property in the great fire occurring the same night in Chicago did not match […]

Rich Coglin, who was born and raised in the Bay Area, used to frequent Calabazas — not to be confused with Calabasas, the lush, gated community that houses a who’s who of celebrities. No, this was a park cemented in San Jose, where free spirits roamed, those who let clear skies and soft winds puppeteer […]

Six months after the Camp Fire destroyed the neighboring towns on the ridge, the students at Chico State are aware of how the fire changed the entire town. They talk about how housing for the next school year is harder to find, and that people drive way too fast through town now. “It feels like […]

Ever since the last spot fire spawned after the conflagration that was the 2018 Camp Fire, many independent business owners in Paradise have had to wait over six months to get a second bite at the cherry. Despite the town’s diverse arboreal presentation, no cherry trees, which engender a lot of ground in California, are […]

The Camp Fire was reported at 6:33 a.m. on November 8, 2018. That morning, Kim looked out a window and could see the blaze burning toward their home. Suddenly, the wind shifted. While Kim and Chris’ trailer and partially constructed tiny home were spared, their storage container went up in flames. Kim thought their belongings […]

Skyway Road hugs the city, folding around the Jarbo Gap. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company had lines in this area, which surrounds Paradise, Calif. After humidity abated, dropping to 22 percent, and considering the wind gusts in a usually dry area, the investor-owned utility, who provides natural gas and electricity to most Northern Californians, […]

The “Camp Fire” that devastated parts of Northern California proved that the longstanding fears of residents were well founded when it ripped through Paradise, Magalia, Concow, and other communities in early November. The wildfire eliminated 95% of the Town of Paradise, killing at least 85 people there and in the surrounding area. Thousands of homes […]

Driving past the 1078 Gallery, you would maybe think it’s a laundromat or a small resale shop. If you blink while driving down Park Avenue in Chico, you might completely miss it. It’s not housed in a fancy space like the Museum of Northern California Art just a few miles away. But on the opening […]

As 8 a.m. rolled around, St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Chico, California began to get more and more crowded. Men and women starting their day said hello to one another, and were instructed to sign in before finding their seats. The center rectangle was reserved for the Long-Term Recovery Group Board of Directors, […]

After the Camp Fire, hundreds of researchers, students, relief groups, news cameras and individuals traveled to Chico, California to catch a momentary glimpse, to learn, to help, to hear stories and soak in the reality of the aftermath. Megan Kurtz, who works for Cal State Chico, has become a liaison for the community, managing requests […]

How two teams become one to achieve a goal.

Cal Fire officials say power lines and equipment owned by The Pacific Gas and Electric Corp, better known as “PG&E,” are to blame for the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history.  The wildfire dubbed “Camp Fire” eliminated 95% of the small town of Paradise, California killing at least 80 people and several others […]

President Donald Trump has threatened once again to cut off federal aid to support California wildfires, prompting a stern response from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who responded that “disasters and recovery are no time for politics.” “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that would never happen with proper Forest Management,” the […]

Burbank, Calif., the true ganglion of movie studios and a stone’s throw from Hollywood, was near its apotheosis of relevance in the late 1950s. 3:10 to Yuma, which was filmed on the premises, had been released to roaring reception, while Stage 15 served as the backdrop to other classics. Because of the solid walls of […]

As a fire pitched its notation through military bases, so did one run of sustained winds, around 32 mph, that culminated in a virulent way across the heart of the Feather River Canyon, in what is known as the Jarbo Gap, during the early hours of Nov. 8. The Pacific Gas and Electric Company had […]