Rebuilding Paradise (2020) - full transcript

What you can expect if you

want to get outdoors and take
advantage of some things today,

today might not
be the best day.

Red flag warning for
extreme fire danger due
to gusty north winds

and extremely dry conditions.

It will not take much
to spark a fire today.

And once one is sparked,

it will spread rapidly
due to the strong winds.

Meanwhile,
satellite and radar,

we're not going to see any
clouds overhead for today.

Sunny skies expected.



That's right, PG&E says it

will decide within the
next hour if it's going to

be shutting off power
preemptively anywhere
in the north state.

Already.

We've just learned that
firefighters in Butte County

are working on a fire in
the Feather River Canyon.

Now, it's burning
about ten acres so far.

It just broke out
a few minutes ago.

This is in the
Camp Creek Road area.

And looking it up on the map,

this is just northeast
of the Pulga area.

Honey, there's,
there's all kinds of
stuff falling out of the sky.

Fire rescue.

What is the address
of the emergency?



I don't have an address.

I'm in Chico on the Skyway,
headed up to Paradise.

Should I turn around, or?

There's nothing
going on in Paradise.

We do have a fire in
the Jarbo Gap area.

So once we get the
Forest Service resources

coming down from...

Fire rescue.

What is the address
of the emergency?

I want you to go ahead and

evacuate immediately.

We do have the fire
department in the area, okay?

I've
got one involved structure,

two others imminent
involvement.

All units be advised,

the town of Paradise is
under mandatory evacuation.

The town of Paradise is
under mandatory evacuation.

Mandatory evacuation!
Mandatory evacuation!

Lord, pray for our house.

Please pray for us.

Please, we need
your help, Lord.

Nope. Lori?
Time to abandon ship.

Ordering an evacuation order

now due to
the fire for areas of
Pentz Road in Paradise.

Bye, house.

Through Highway 70.

Last check, the
fire over 1,000 acres.

KPBY News Time.

It's 8:42.

Oh my God.
The fire is at the hospital.

The hospital is
right here on the left.

My wife was,
uh, she was in her surgery.

Okay.

She was still doing
surgery when they were in there.

What?

It's everywhere.

We are 100%
surrounded by fire.

14, go ahead.

Got a
little bit of a firestorm.

We have fires threatening
all around all of the buildings,

to include near a
gas tank and an oxygen.

It's 11:38
in the morning in Paradise,

and this is what it looks like.

Oh my God.

Oh my God. How?

Like, we can't hardly breathe.

We have to get out of here.

Do
you have something to report?

I need
an ambulance immediately,

emergency to my
grandfather's house.

He's in a wheelchair.
We need him evacuated now!

Can you guys get him out
with, without assistance?

I, I don't have a lot
of resources to send.

No...

Evacuate on foot!

Evacuate on foot!
Get out of your cars!

We're in a bad spot.

The window is so hot.

I can't even touch
the window right now.

There's,
like, explosions everywhere.

Oh my God, people's
tires are popping.

- Holy shit, dude.
- Just be safe.

Fly, fly, fly! Fly, dude.

I'm scared,
I'm scared, I'm scared.

All these
buildings are gone.

All these homes are gone.

My hometown has burned today.

Uh oh. I can't see.

So why aren't the
firefighters up here?

They're, this, I think, Bud
how can they be everywhere?

Holy moly.

That's Laura's house.

Yep.
That's Laura's house.

Are we going to make
it alive to Chico?

Oh, hold on. Hold on.

Look, there's clear sky!

There's clear sky!
There's clear sky!

Hey, clear sky, guys!

Clear sky, guys.

The sky.

- All right, guys.
- Clear sky. All right. Okay.

We made it through it, guys.
Made it through.

I just have to check on
Sweetheart and Granddad,

but we're, we're through guys.

We are through.

Can we get away, far away
from away from Paradise?

Yep, we are.

Is in Paradise,
what was Paradise,

where one fire official says
everything is destroyed.

In Paradise,

about two hours
north of Sacramento,

after the
Camp Fire just exploded here
early yesterday morning,

prompting a massive evacuation.

The inferno exploding
in size from 200 acres to

18,000 in a matter of hours.

Its dramatic growth.

Terrifying speed.

We have now learned that at
least five people died while

trapped in their cars trying
to escape that fire in

Paradise, California.

Um, that one is
called the Camp Fire,

burning in that
part of the state.

This is a community
of about 27,000 people,

and it is completely paralyzed.

It's going to be weeks before
residents are allowed back in.

And that's just to go
through the rubble.

Who knows when people
will actually be allowed

to live here again.

In the meantime,
you can see this is
one of the neighborhoods

that has been
completely decimated by...

God. Oh my God, look at this.

This is the devastation,
it's still recording.

This is why
there not putting people in.

This is the reason why.

Yeah, because there's
a lot of hazards in the area.

So, we can't go
down every road,

but we can give
you what we have.

Oh, God.

I wasn't born
and raised here,

but I've been here since 1981.

I arrived here on
a Greyhound bus.

I was the town drunk
and living in a camper
shell in a guy's backyard.

Oh, we
were hoping that we weren't
going to have to see that,

Ridgeview High School is gone.

I sobered up in 1984.

I became an elected
official in 2004,

then I became the mayor.

I went from being the town drunk
to being the town mayor.

And I met my wife here.

This is a place where
everything came together for me.

And within a day, it was gone.

You know, I'm
grateful that I'm alive,

but I'm 74 years old.

Change is difficult.

I'm going to die here.

You know, not in Chico.

I'm not going to go back
down to the Bay Area where
I was raised.

This is my home.

- Oh, look at this.
- This is what's so crazy.

All this burnt,
these homes are here.

How crazy is this?

Yeah.

See that?

- He's stuck here, huh?
- Is that a real deer?

Yeah,
that's a real deer.

Hey, buddy.

Things have changed,
indefinitely.

Just everything is...

Decimated.

My wife and I,
we loved living here.

And my boys, they
were born in Paradise.

Their whole
world was Paradise.

That is all they ever knew.

Where we lived can't
really be replaced.

When you realized that
everything was burning,

you just basically,
kind of come to terms with,

there's a lot of things
that could go wrong.

During the evacuations,

there was a gentleman who
came up to me and he said,

“My family is trying
to get out of town going
down Circle Drive.”

And I was like,

“They need to
not go that way.”

But there was no cell service.

In the morning, I went down
there and sure enough did find

a, uh, vehicle that
had burned and looked for

any remains that may
have been around there,

but didn't find anything.

A little bit later
I saw a lady.

She talked about going
down Circle Drive and her
vehicle catching on fire,

and her son being there
and getting her out of there.

And she had burns up her arms.

And, uh, I knew
it was her, so.

I went and gave her a hug,

because I had been
looking for her body.

So...

I'm sorry.

We've been getting a lot
of phone calls and emails

about people who
are still missing.

Nearly
1,300 still unaccounted for.

The search for the missing
happening in shelters.

It is
my sad duty to report,

we now can confirm a
total of 9 fatalities.

We're
learning that the death toll

now stands at staggering 23.

48 people are now
confirmed dead in the states...

The fire
killed at last 85 people and

destroyed more than
18,000 structures,

including homes
and businesses.

The whole town is gone.

I, I still don't know
how to process that.

We were pretty sure
our house burned down.

And this is basically
what we got.

So, yeah,
this is our area.

This is, um, our beds.

It's not much, but
we have what we have.

So...

How's that, good?

After they come here,
people think that they're

going to have their house
back the way, it was,

they're going to have their
furniture back the way it was,

that they're going to have
life before fire and they're

not going to.

060.

We are in the
midst of a catastrophe.

The state of California, uh,
will do everything we can.

And we
need to, I think,

make sure we are prepared.

But what,
what we just saw,
we just left Pleasure.

- Paradise.
- Or Paradise.

And what we just saw at,
at Paradise is just, you know,

it's just not acceptable.

There's been
such an outpouring of help and
support and food,

people bringing
coats and umbrellas.

And, and all those
things are so helpful.

But at the end of the day,
I have nowhere to go.

As hard as it to say,

I don't see the
town coming back.

I just don't.

We have two bags worth
of my children's clothes,

that were in their dressers.

And the clothes that
are on our back.

And we got in our
car and we left.

It's crazy.

I never thought I would be a
part of a, a natural disaster.

And I was so hurt and sad for
the people like in New Orleans

on the Hurricane Katrina,
but it doesn't really hit you

until you actually affects
you and hits your backyard.

My wife's been in
Paradise all her life.

Her parents has been up there
since they were children.

Our families were affected
by the situation, too.

We don't have grandmas and
grandpas that we can go to.

I, honestly, I want
to get the hell out of here,

but we have nowhere to go.

I'm getting really
anxious to want to know
what's still standing.

Paradise Police
Chief announced that

plans would begin for
the residents to reenter

into the town of Paradise.

For many people,

it's been more than
30 days since they last saw

their homes standing
in the city of Paradise.

Have you
been up here yet?

No, this
is my first time.

I lost my house,
too and I'll tell you what,

it's not easy.

No, it's not.
But we're alive.

Yeah, we are.

And what, what's important,
we still have it, right?

Yeah.

Back there,
this is all ours,

and you can see the
buildings that burnt.

And that's where
all the buses burnt.

School garden over here.

Yeah, all of our garden.

In our district we
have nine schools.

And eight of the
nine are damaged.

And four are destroyed.

That was the fifth grade wing.

All the planning we've done,

still we never thought
it would be this bad.

Yep.

Okay, it's so hard to
walk down here.

Don't touch any of this,
it's asbestos.

If the school doesn't go back,
there will be no town.

And part of the problem
is‐is, there's nobody up here

to come back to.

A little sun that
I made for my mom when,

I think, I was in preschool.

This is his
transmission, so made of,

like, a really
low‐grade aluminum.

Some, just as
light as it can be.

It's pieces of gravel.

I mean, it really just goes
to show how hot the fire was.

Isn't that your bed‐frame?

Yeah, that's my bed‐frame.

That's my old gas tank.

I mean it's just
piecing stuff back together.

Trying to figure out like,
what happened up here.

If I still had a house,
if they still had a house,
you know.

- No, I already knew.
- Yeah, so...

As soon as I
left my house, I was like,

“I'm not coming back to this.”

I watched mine burn.

Even though I lost my house,

I have all the stuff that
survived, all the memories,

because I wasn't able to
find my parent's wedding album,

I found all of my baby
pictures and my brother,

for my mom.

Some one‐of‐a‐kind pictures
that don't exist anywhere.

I left almost way too late.

I'd say about ten
minutes later,

the fire would
have been right there,

just down the street,

and I might not have
been able to get out.

I was running back and
forth through the house

to grab everything
that I possibly could.

As the propane tanks were
just getting louder and louder.

That's when we
knew we had to go.

I drove out of the fire
with almost no gas,

I had my dog up in front and

I saw the
blacked‐out sky with,

like, the red on the horizon.

This entire area
was on fire and no one
could really do anything.

The, the reality is‐is
that it was November 8th and

we hadn't had any kind
of significant rain.

It had always rained before
trick or treating, right?

- Right. Right.
- You know what I mean?

And now, and now we're in
these patterns here where we

don't see rain until,
you know, end of November.

That morning,
the wind cranked up.

And you know, you're
kind of waiting, like,

what's coming next?

In this particular case,
it was a fire eight miles away,

throwing up a column
full of embers and ash.

The darkest, blackest
column of smoke I've ever seen.

And then a
40‐mile‐an‐hour wind taking

that over the top of Paradise
in perfect alignment,

and dropping it on
the town of Paradise.

And so it really was
the perfect storm.

We lost a hundred and
some thousand acres of land.

There was multiple fires burning
for at least a week?

Probably more.

We just tried to save
what we could save.

And help people
along that way.

That's about all we could do.

It didn't
matter if we had 1,000 fire
engines lined up

on the ridge that day.

This was going to happen.

Everything lined up perfectly
that day for this to happen.

Things are changing.

Firefighters are living
climate change, they're,

it's staring them in
the face every day.

It's not that California
hasn't had bad fires and

horrible conditions over time,
but they're lasting longer and

they're becoming more extreme.

Going into the
Camp Fire in Paradise,

we had 5 years of a drought
that we hadn't recovered from.

When you
see temperatures increase,

literally one degree
in temperature change,

changes what's growing
on the landscape,

or what isn't growing.

November 8th, 2018

from Pacific Gas
& Electric Company.

High fire danger
are forecasted in...

PG&E had alerted the
Paradise area the power would

be shut off as a
preventative thing.

It was not.
And then we had a fire.

We have
confirmed PG&E experienced a

problem minutes before
the blaze broke out.

An electrical transmission
line near the site of the

massive fire was
causing sparks.

And it's no
real secret that the equipment

we're looking at was built,
I believe it was 1921.

I want to write a
formal letter to the PG&E

board of directors.

I should make these into
thank you cards and make one

for each one of them.

I just wanted to show them
and say, hey, here's my house.

That's my home on
November 10th, you know?

Where are you
sleeping tonight?

If somebody from
PG&E was over my shoulder,

what is it that you would
want to say to them?

I was born in Paradise.

I have lived there
my whole life.

So that's a really big deal.

But I want them to know
really how hard it is.

It's not just that
I lost my house.

It's not that I lost my
memories or anything like that.

It's that they, it was
my entire way of life.

Not just a portion of it.

It was literally every
single moment of my life and

how I did stuff and
how my daughter did stuff
that is completely gone.

After the fire, I went back
and digging through our place.

This is all the stuff
that survived the fire.

My John Wayne shot glass,

I probably had 70 different
unique shot glasses.

And only one survived,
and it was John Wayne,

which makes me happy,

because I just think
that he should have

been the one to survive.

I miss my family.

And I miss my home.

My entire family
lived in Paradise.

34 people.

Aunts, uncles, cousins.

Brothers, mom,
dad, grandparents.

Every single one of
them lost their home.

We rented and we did not
have renter's insurance.

There's no rental anywhere
because all of Butte County

was filled right after the fire.

I knew I had
to get back to work,

and so a trailer seemed like it
was going to be the best option.

So I just went and
took out a loan.

It's more expensive for
me to live in this tiny box

than it was for me to live in
a two‐bedroom, two‐bath house.

I'm done with California.

If it wasn't for
Kayla and her family,

we'd probably be gone.

There's temporary
facilities in Texas and Mexico.

Right.
People need a place to live.

And probably there will be a
significant number of people

who don't rebuild in Paradise.

You know, it's hard not to
take it personally, right?

Because I represent the
community and I know the

people that have
been effected.

In my district right now,
with the Camp Fire

50,000 people
have been displaced.

And you know, one of the most
immediate things is how do we

get housing delivered as
expeditiously as possible?

You know,
don't we have a responsibility

to just sort of stop
building if it's going to be

in areas that
are not defensible?

Is there a point
at which we say,

“You know what,

these areas are
just going to be off
limits to development,

because it's just going
to be too dangerous?”

Have you thought about that?

Should
we deprioritize places that

have earthquake risk?

Should we deprioritize
places that have flood risk?

Uh, we're going to start
running out of places that we

can build in this state.

Understand this
about Paradise,

the overwhelming majority of
people moved there because

they wanted to, not
because they had to.

If you know this community,
it has a very strong sense of

place and it's been
there for over 100 years.

Its heritage was, you know,
Gold Rush days.

It really is a, a
pioneering spirit.

I can
remember when I was young.

No restrictions to speak of.
No ordinances. No laws.

It was a great contributor
to moving people to Paradise.

It was always surprising
to learn that Paradise

was a city of 26,500, because
it never felt like that.

Ever.

It was like quintessential
small‐town America.

It's kind of the other
part of California you never

knew was here.

Some of the nicest
people you'd ever want to meet.

Anything
that's a lifetime first,

I did in Paradise.

Yummy!

Where we lived,
it was a good spot.

I could hear the school
bell ring and then it
was time to go to class.

On the weekends,

there was the little
league softball fields.

You could hear the crack of
the bat and parents cheering

and stuff like that.

Who do you see in there?

Mommy! Hi, Mom!

Hi.

There's no
place like Paradise.

That'll always be home to me.

You can't replace that.

I lived there for
30 years and I love that town.

And I'm not going
to bail on it now.

I'm not going to bail on it.

Tom are we set up for people
at the bus stops on Monday?

We will be.

Okay.

Two people for each bus.

Okay,
well we'll be here too, in
the morning and then...

Are you going over
there in the morning?

Yeah, I'll be
there too, in the morning.

Okay, alright.

Um. What a mess.

We haven't eaten.

Well,
that's not very intelligent.

There are
some things that take priority.

Over food?
And health?

No, because if you're not
healthy and you don't eat,

then you can't do your job.

You know, in combat,
I learned that if you don't

feed yourself and
take care of your men,

and you don't feed them,

then you can't fight.

Well you can't fight if you
don't take care of yourself.

We're going to fight!

We are renting sites for
kids that are displaced.

So we rented mall space.

No I prefer not to bring
them down the hill.

We're asking our fellow
schools if they have
any extra classrooms.

This is little
Durham Elementary.

They've been so
nice to take us in.

There's too many kids
depending on their schools and

their teachers and
the friends they have,

to just let everybody scatter.

Hi! How are you?

I'm doing good!
I haven't seen you in a while.

Oh, I know.

Because we haven't
been together, huh?

You okay?

Yeah.

Okay.
So how do you guys like this,

versus being at the
mall or in a classroom?

Well, I happen
to like being in class.

I know you do.
You always have.

Well, where do you guys want
to go to school after this?

I kind of want
to stay in Evergreen.

Because, like,
Evergreen is my school.

You know there's
no Evergreen right now.

Yeah. I'm going to
find you another place.

So let's try this now.

Yeah, let's
see if this one work.

There you go!
Bingo. It's getting me cold.

How many 6th
graders do you have?

Actually showing up?

Our, our biggest day was 33.

Today we have 24.

So, um, that's, that's
roughly a third of,

of the 6th Grade population.

Where are they,
because we're missing like

1,000 kids right now
that we haven't found.

- It's crazy.
- Yeah. It is. It is.

Parents who are saying,

“I need some
normalcy for my kids,

I'm going to put them in
another district or something,”

without students,
or teachers and our classified

and food service
and custodians and bus
drivers and everybody.

Nobody will have jobs.

We just can't ever
let up right now.

Come on!

I need to think about
what's best for my kids.

And right now is
to find a place and go
back up to Paradise.

Arabella do you have anything
to say about Paradise?

You don't have anything
to say about Paradise?

All of the evacuation orders

were lifted in Paradise.

People are starting to return.

Most are in trailers thanks

to an ordinance
passed by the town.

She's been
living in her car.

She will have a
place to call home finally.

The kids, a lot
of them are in trailers.

A lot of them are doubled up,
tripled up, you know,

living with family members,
nine people to a room.

Um, they're,
they're struggling.

This is not a typical
high school thing,

to lose your town and to
not have a place to live,

or to worry about
their friends moving.

What kind of things
can you do to try to
release that anxiety?

I listen to music.

Um, and I'm trying to share
with people so they know

they're not alone
in this world.

Exactly.

They're not the only
ones that lost their mother.

They're not the only ones
that lost their house.

They're not the only ones that
lost something in their life.

They're not...

For me, right now,
it's just brand new, like,

what to do,
how to support my kids.

They're amazing,
but it's also, you know,

shows you what, how hard
this really is for everybody.

I work with some kids
on trauma counseling,

which has been tough for me,

since I almost died
in the fire myself.

Um, so it's kind of hard
not to get triggered.

November 8th, I got in my
car and started driving.

And we go into
this black cloud.

And then the flames
were everywhere.

I'm worried that the
engine is going to explode.

I'm dead‐stopped and I can't
go right or left because the

flames are on both sides,
and I can't go back.

I try to call my
mom to say goodbye,

because I thought this is it.

Yeah.

Thank you, Paradise Ice,

for giving us a
place to come out.

And please do
not drink the water out
of the water fountain.

The water is not safe yet.

They have free bottled water.

Tell me a little bit
about putting on this event.

Why'd you do it?

Well, I can't
take full credit for
pretty much any of it.

Um, the thought of
doing a tree lighting
ceremony was tossed out there.

We saw that the skating
rink was still intact.

The tree was donated.

And everybody knew somebody
and pulled it together.

Hi.
How are you guys doing?

Oh, good, it's
great to see all these faces.

I know, huh?
Isn't it nice?

It's like, oh, let's just
get back, let's have our...

These are our people.

Hi, little puppy.

- I'm glad you came.
- Yeah.

It's awesome
seeing people here.

I just came to say
thank you to you man,

you guys did a wonderful job.

Thank you.
I appreciate that.

They haven't been
able to see their dad very much.

He's been working so
hard and being so brave,

but I wish he was able to have
a little more time with us.

Because we need him right now.

Like, emotionally.

And the boys, this is
a big deal for them.

It's going to change their life,

and we have to
lean on each other.

My two boys,
they've been my crutches
through this whole thing.

- Hello.
- Hey.

So, I can't do
two things at once.

Do you want to light
the tree with Easton?

Sure.

Like, when they
count down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
just plug it in?

- Yeah.
- I'll show you where.

Easton, did he get
his shoes back on?

I took his skates off.

Okay. Alright.
Here you go, dude.

Thank you for coming.

And what a
great time to be here.

It's so fun to see people.

And I don't know, I don't
shake hands much anymore.

It seems like we hug each
other more than anything else.

This tree, it's small now,

but it's going to grow
with us and get stronger and

taller as we get
stronger and taller as a,

as a community, right?

So, if you'd help me, 5.

4, 3, 2, 1.

Wooo!

Thanks very much.
It's a beautiful tree.

A new set
of problems arising for

Camp Fire victims in Paradise.

FEMA now says that fire
debris must be removed before

a property can be reoccupied.

Paradise residents living
on their destroyed properties

are getting word
they'll have to leave.

If we do
not do this FEMA will not
pay for the debris removal.

This is BS.
This whole thing.

We are struggling to come out
of a very, very bad situation.

I lost my wife.
I lost everything else.

I just got back my property.

This is too much.
I, I can't do it.

I'm going to
just leave Paradise.

I'm sorry.

We have
a financial gun to our head.

I hate making this decision.

- Don't do it.
- Don't do it.

If we don't do it,

our town will look like a
warzone for the next 20 years,

because we are broke.

We're relying on others to
help us and those resources...

My
house burned down in the fire.

And I'm here because
we just want to build back

as quickly as we can.

I've got my lot cleared.

I've got clearance.

I've got my plans drawn.

I want to get a
permit and dig footings
and begin and we can't.

There's big delays.

Let's back up a
little bit and recognize that

Paradise, in a good year,
built about eight homes.

Now we're looking at
about 800 a year, right?

So that is an action that's
not going to happen tomorrow.

But again, Melissa,
you're missing the point.

A lot of people are not
coming back because on top
of losing everything we own,

it's becoming onerous
to deal with the town to

get anything done.

So you're the council members,

so you guys take
control of this town and

direct the staff to
do what we, the citizens,

need to do to save our town.

Hi, Looter.
Well, come here.

- Her name's Looter.
- Looter. No, come here.

We, um, found her with a guy
who we'd arrested for looting,

like, three times.

And she just kind
of stayed here.

We, it was like
our therapy dog.

Then there was the
issue of, well,

when that
guy gets out of jail,

what are we going to do?

It turns out it's not his dog.

She's basically, uh, owned
by the police department now.

When I first came here,
I noticed the door was ajar,

and you, someone kicked it in.

Can you tell what,
uh, has been missing, or?

Yeah. They've taken lot
of tools that I had in there.

This thing doesn't burn,

but my house walls
completely burned down.

And then this happens.

Yeah. The job
has completely changed.

People are frustrated.

Let me get you
the case number.

Okay.

Trying to maintain
control over what,

what little is left.

A lot of people have
left and are leaving.

The hospital is gone.

Most of the doctors
are somewhere else.

The elementary school is gone.

It's where my kids
went to school.

I know it's cliché,
but the donut shop was

right back there.

It's not the same Paradise
that existed pre‐fire.

Most people up in Paradise
right now are just there for

the construction,
the cleanup effort.

There are dump
trucks everywhere.

PG&E's board
of directors voted tonight

to file for Chapter 11
Bankruptcy protection.

For the
utility's 16 million customers,

experts warn rates
could go up in the wake of

destructive fires,
and now bankruptcy.

If I was the spark
that started this fire,

I would be responsible.

PG&E's not being
held responsible.

In fact, we're being
held responsible,

and all of California,
it's not just us.

We're being
held responsible.

You burned our town to a crisp.

You've raised our rates.

We've lost everything.

And we're paying
for you to ... up.

How is that right?

I'm Joe Earley.

Like many of you, my home and
business were lost in this

devastating wildfire.

I'm Erin Brockovich.

For 27 years, I
have been dealing with
Pacific Gas & Electric

across California.

And
this company has been
a runaway monopoly in

this state for a
very, very long time.

I've seen them
blow up San Bruno.

I've seen them burn down a
good portion of this state.

I've seen them
devastate your town.

I worked for
PG&E when I was 18 years old.

They did not care
about maintenance.

It was about the dividend.

And that's how
that company's been since
1972 when I worked there.

So when you want to
get angry, get angry.

We need to show these
bastards that we mean business.

They destroyed one of
the most historic towns
in California.

And we need to hold
them accountable.

We've lost everything.

And how do you put a price
on that kind of trauma

that you live through
day in and day out?

As a team, we have to
make them pay for everything.

Because it's going to
happen again if we don't.

So Tammy,
I hope that all the losses
put together will effect

some meaningful change,

so that no lawyer ever
has to sit across a desk

with someone who
suffered what you suffered.

They had an
opportunity to do something,

and PG&E chose not
to do anything,

and murdered my father.

And that's how I feel.

After Mom's death
three months before,

he promised he wasn't
going anywhere,

because we needed him.

And, oh, gosh, for him to
die the way he did was just,

I could not think of a
worse nightmare to be in.

We thought
Dad had died in the house.

But when they finally
let us go back out there,

to see his wheelchair at
the bottom of his garden,

absolutely broke me.

He was trying
to, to get away.

I don't sleep because
that's when the real

nightmares take over.

Welcome.

Today we're remembering and
we're celebrating the lives of

the 85 people who
died in the Camp Fire.

We are a broad
and diverse group of powerful

decision‐makers/implementers.

And I think that's
the theme today,

is let's get
closer to making a plan for
restoration, reforestation,

whatever that looks like.

- It's always burned.
- It's always burned.

And that's
something we need to look at.

Maybe we need to plant the
trees that can withstand fires.

Trees that were here then,
but have now kind of vanished.

Yeah, well, I think
just looking at the scale

of the problem, which
is the whole West Coast.

If we can do larger‐scale
projects like burning,

you know, on these big,
brush‐covered slopes.

That's still the only
tool we've really got
that's cost‐effective.

But we can't really
vegetation manage our
way out of the problem.

Humans alter the
landscape in ways that
make it more flammable.

None of this stuff really
happens in a vacuum,

there's this um, history of
land management going back

thousands of years.

It really affects what
is growing there now and

why the fire burns
like it does now.

In the late 1800's,

the timber barons
got to California before

the Forest Service did,
and they bought all of the

primo timber ground.

A lot of logging happened.

They didn't replant.

That initiated changes
in the forest structure.

So, because of that,
California has got these

regulations that after logging
you have to plant a certain

number of trees per acre.

So, it creates this perfect
landscape for this kind of

hopscotching fire behavior,
where if you have a fire that

starts here with the
wind blowing on it,

it runs like it's a grass.

All that leads us
toward where we are now.

That's why the Camp Fire ran
nine miles in the first day.

It was just perfect
conditions for it.

We've created this.

So this is
the access route for,

for the flumes that's how
loggers used to get their

timber down from the mountain.

Basically, it goes
from the top, uh,

where the Head Dam is,
all the way down.

And the Head Dam is, like,
this old dam that was built so

many years ago, so...

It's hard to
communicate in words what
this town was like before.

You have the mountains
where you, you know,

a bunch of friends
spend a lot of time.

We have the flumes.

Like, just super
great places to swim.

There's really,
really no other place
I'd rather grow up.

It used to be
a lot more beautiful.

Yeah, it used to be.

For us, this is
a little bit underwhelming.

Yeah.

I remember,
right before the fire,

Burke and I went down to
the flumes had a lot of fun,

and it's the small
stuff you miss, I guess.

And then, you know,
my town's gone.

A lot of my friends
are gone now.

I feel like I got robbed
of my senior year.

And now we don't
graduate, on the
Paradise High School field,

I couldn't do it.
I wouldn't show up.

I know a lot of my
friends wouldn't either.

The high school only had
one wing that was burned,

but there is no
water, electricity.

The seniors said,

“We want to graduate
on Om Wraith Field,
like we always do.”

But we're being told
that it's not safe,

because of the burned
trees all around the field.

Okay, guys. Let's do it.

So. Trees.

We have about 1,000
trees to take down.

So who's
doing it on the grounds
of the public library?

On the grounds of Town Hall?

They're going
through the whole process,

because they want to
be reimbursed by FEMA.

Here's the issue.

We don't have the
timeline to follow that
and still graduate.

Seriously, what do we do?

Well,
it's official tonight,

Cal Fire has concluded that
PG&E is responsible for

causing the deadliest fire
in California History.

Rebuilding
trust and the community are

what victims hope for.

So, at this tim
we're going to move on to the

presentation by Aaron Johnson
from Pacific Gas & Electric on

their future energy plans
for the town of Paradise.

Um,
thank you for having me.

I'm going to admit to
being a little bit nervous.

So as I stand in front
of you here tonight,

on behalf of my company,

I want to apologize for
the role our equipment

had in this tragedy.

We know we have a lot of
work to do to strengthen
our electrical system.

We are taking that on with
more inspections and repairs

of our equipment,
hardening the grid,

and we will be
undergrounding the entire

electrical distribution
system for the town.

It will take us,
we estimate five years to

fully restore your communities.

With the undergrounding
we're talking about,

will that be part of a rate
raise to pay for all that?

Who's going to pay
for all of that?

You didn't
need to cut down my trees and

kill the value of my property,

because you're going to
underground the power lines.

Now that you've decided
that you're at fault.

Get your checkbook
out and I'd love
to see a check from you.

I
think you missed a group.

85 people died here and we
really want to hear that

apology to the families
of those 85 people.

Our hearts go out to
those that lost loved ones.

They have my apology as well
on behalf of this company.

On behalf of this company,
and we'll be here for the

long haul to do right by this
community and fix what we can.

I've never been in
a situation like this,

I can't tell you...

I think they should
have to come live here and see

what people are going through.

You know, they can take
all this fricking dirt
and burned up cars way,

but you're still left
behind with broken people.

The absolute crippling effect
this has had on all of us.

That our lives
will never ever be the
same because of this.

You ready?
Let's go, let's go, come on.

My home doesn't necessarily
feel like home anymore.

Can you sit?

Good girl.

I don't have
neighbors anymore.

Let's go, let's go.

My house made
it from the fire.

A lot of people don't
want to live up here.

The devastation is hard
to live with every day.

When the
fire tore through Paradise,

let me just paint
this picture for you,

it burned all the cars,
the lawnmowers,

the heavy equipment,
the vehicles, the buildings.

Uh, and it released a
long list of toxic chemicals

in the emissions.

At the
top of the list is benzene.

It's a chemical that
was released when, uh,

the town's plastic
water pipes burned.

And government agencies
warn that drinking water

that's been contaminated
with benzene can cause cancer.

So, you can't even
heat the water to wash.

You can't take a hot shower.

Exactly.

Paradise water,
at one time, was like the

second‐cleanest
water in the state.

And now it may not be
drinkable for up to three years.

I want a baby.

And my boyfriend
and I are kind of in that
place where we're ready.

But I saw, you know, a
doctor, and they're like,

“You should not be
having a child while you're
living in that environment,

because there's
benzene in the water.”

I'm taking showers
in the benzene.

Um, it absorbs
through your skin.

And so it's like, I had to
put off that idea for a while,

or I have to move, and
there's nowhere to move.

We've seen this happen in one
other district in California,

which was Santa Rosa.

And to clear the 350
water lines from Santa Rosa,

it took them eleven months.

So we are developing...

Well, hold on Kevin.

So, if it took Santa Rosa
eleven months to clear
350 lines and you have.

- 10,500.
- 10,500.

At that rate, it would
take about 25 years.

So those are things I just
didn't foresee and that are

starting to make me
realize how big of a disaster

it really was.

It's just a lot right now.

It's, It's getting harder.

For some, I thought it would
get easier as time went on,

but it's actually getting
harder somehow, um,

which I didn't anticipate.

This one is my fish,

and then the
other fish is Pearl's.

And then Mommy and
Daddy has the birds.

We love our pets.

But they
keep on getting dead.

We have to keep on
flushing them down the toilet.

It's hard.

This disaster has really
affected everybody.

Me and Marcus have
had a struggle.

There's times that
we've broken up, you know?

But we tend to
get back together for
the sake of the kids.

The
day of the fire, Phil said,

“We're going to Roni's.”

And I remember saying,

“What?” And he goes,
“They called us.”

And I went...

Oh, on
the way home from the fire?

Yeah.
And I went, “Oh my God.”

You know, we really
didn't see each other

for almost 20 years.

This whole tragedy kind of,
um, brought our family together.

Not that we
want the fire to happen,

but that would have
never have happened.

People are weird.

I don't know why
we ever let that happen.

You know we're here because
we can't live in our own home,

but we were lucky
and it didn't burn.

And we are blessed,
we're with you guys.

I mean, I know
people that are living
with total strangers.

And you guys are so sweet
and kind to take care of us.

Those first few
days when I was working

around the clock.

And they'd have, they'd have
a vodka tonic ready for me.

I just...

I think now you guys
have realized that you have

to start thinking
about yourselves.

And, and you've been
thinking about the community,

the school.

We just
haven't had the time.

But one day.

It's, you guys.
It's taking its toll.

He's up all hours
of the night.

The, the PTSD is
backing off a wee bit.

Because it, you know, I have,

I have it from the
old days from the Army.

And now it gets re‐exacerbated
by where you get your

nightmares mixed up, you know.

It's like, wait a minute,

that's a nightmare
from the old days.

But I, I'm getting,
every day is better.

Especially cause of you guys.

You can show me.
10‐98. Report taken.

I don't know which is worse
having your home be completely

gone or still have
a house that's just in
the middle of all this.

And every day
I want to go to work I
have to drive up Skyway.

There are somedays
where it's just cloudy
over Paradise that, uh,

it just gives me
cold sweat, chills.

Because it does still feel
like it was yesterday.

I watched all this
start to burn.

Burn closer and closer
to my house and I'm like,

“well,” so yeah, I literally
watched my house burn down.

Paradise,
the fire has reached Eagleton.

My house is on fire right now.

Keep traffic flowing
and personnel safety.

Copy.

10‐4.

Oh God. God, God.

We're moving.
I love Paradise.

So I'm kind of excited
to be back in my town.

How's it coming?

It will be cheaper,
which will be really nice,

because then we could start
saving more money to put away

for a piece of property,
which is our ultimate goal.

I'm going to
get my sculpture.

- Oh no.
- It's so cool!

It could
stay right there.

No.

It's really,
it's really not.

We could get a gnome
and they could be friends!

No, no.

Yeah! Look at him.

Where on Earth,
did you get that?

He's so cute!

No.

It's just, my dad
got it for me in Paradise.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we welcome you to the
2019 Gold Nugget Days event.

Welcome home!

This
year has been eventful.

It's definitely been
one to remember,

and I cannot wait to
continue forward into 2019 as

your reigning
Gold Nugget Queen.

I was
1983 Gold Nugget Queen.

That was on the
25th anniversary.

I was first runner‐up
to the queen in 1962.

We lost our home,
but we're coming back!

♪ Woke up this morning
expecting to see the light ♪

♪ 9:00 in the morning,
the sky was dark as night ♪

♪ Got caught up on the
Skyway between the pines ♪

♪ And the flames ♪♪

Everything went,
except for this trailer.

I guess God likes parades.

♪ Oooooo‐oooooh
Oooooo‐oooooh ♪♪

The town of Paradise
today is issuing the first

building permits
since the fire to lifelong
Paradise residents.

Thank you.
That's awesome.

Good morning.
How are you?
I'm good.

- Good to see you again.
- Yeah. Nice to be here.

Look it here. These mine?

That's the name
on the permit file.

The team is onsite.

- Is this number two?
- What?

- Permit number two?
- This is number three.

We got all the hiccups out
of the way on the first one,

so we're taking care of you.

You know, yeah,
I appreciate that, you know?

This is, uh, it's a big deal.

- It is. Good luck.
- Good luck.

That's it, I don't
get a folder or anything?

I don't get a binder?
I don't get a hat? Huh?

I don't get, no,
man, that's okay,

I don't need, guys, man,
thanks a lot again, man.

Woody, thanks again.
Have a good one.

No problem.
No problem, man.

I appreciate that.
Yahoo!

"Town of Paradise
permit to build my home at
1552 Forest Service Road."

I'm jazzed.

Awesome, man.
Awesome. This is it, yeah.

This is it, buddy.

We're on now.
This is the beginning.

- Exciting.
- Yeah.

I guess it finally
caught up with me, wow,

yeah, it's a big deal.

- It is a big deal.
- Yeah, it's a big deal.

- Very big.
- New home. New beginning.

Oh wow. I didn't know
I had all that going on.

Funny how it
catches you, huh?

Yeah, well. Far out.

Let's go to Paradise
Unified School District.

It is going!
I am so excited.

I, I have to tell you that,

um we've entered
into an agreement.

It sounds very easy.
It took months to do this.

So we do not have to go
through FEMA for our trees.

And the trees will start
being removed next week.

So we are very, very lucky.

And we are having graduation.

And we have some really kind
of important speakers coming.

♪ ♪

Hey, Adam?

When are we going to
have the mics working?

I would turn them at a
little bit of an angle.

- That's much better.
- Thanks, guys.

How are you?

I have waters
on every chair.

Tissues on every other chair.

And there's, um, bug spray.

- Aw, you're so good.
- For everybody.

Okay.
Oh, there's Senator Nielsen.

Hi.

I got my college
connections medal.

For my senior year.

And I got my money,
because graduating. We're here.

I graduated!

Good evening.

Can you believe
that we are here,

actually here on our beautiful
Paradise High School campus...

to celebrate and welcome
the Paradise High School

graduating class of 2019
back to their home field?

The fact that we here
tonight to celebrate this

milestone is a miracle.

Because you survived one of
the most destructive wildfires

in our nation's history.

It left us a different people.

You are the first generation
of Paradise High School

graduates to rise from the
ashes of what life was,

and take a bold
step forward into a new
and uncertain future.

But with what
you've been through,

you have what it
takes to persevere.

Congratulations,
and good luck.

Thank you, Sheriff.

We will begin the
announcement of our graduates.

Congratulations.

Congrats, yeah.

Congratulations. How are you?

- Good. How are you?
- Good.

Kyra Regan.

I love your hat.

Thank you.

Harmony K. Von Stockhausen III.

Margaret Thompson.

Emily Viviana Sanchez.

Zach Boston. Brandon Burke.

Savannah Reevis.

That's it. That's it.

Hey, Bobcats!

Yeah?

Hey, Bobcats!

Yeah?

Stand up and cheer and
let us know you're here!

Bobcats, Bobcats!
Go, fight win!

Yeah!

It is with great
honor that we present the

Paradise High School
graduating class of 2019.

2, 3, fire!

1, 2, 3 fire.

We welcome you here
to celebrate the life

of Philip Allan John.

He served our community in
so many ways, Paradise Rotary,

chair of Paradise
Fire Safe Council,

Wildfire Ready Raccoon.

Member of the Butte County
Planning Commission,

town of Paradise EO.

Known for his generosity of
his talents and his time and

his gifts to anyone in need.

And I want to say lovingly
to you to the family and

to the friends that we need
to continue on that legacy.

Last Sunday, Phil and his

cousin were coming to the
end of a 40‐mile bike ride

when Phil's heart
stopped and he took a
bad fall off his bike.

Many medical complications
resulted from the fall that

caused his heart
to stop beating.

And a stress test, if he
would've taken the time,

would have indicated that.

If there's a lesson
to any one of us,

especially after the last
seven and a half months,

it is the fact that we need
to put our health first.

My dearest Phil.

I promise that I will
never stop loving you.

I promise that I will take
care of myself and the family

we have built.

I promise to make you proud.

I will learn to let
your beautiful memories help

us as we grieve.

♪ ♪

One of the things that
spread the Camp Fire through

Paradise was all
the spot fires.

And all those little baby
trees are what carries the

fire up into the crowns.

And up in the crowns
when the wind's blowing,

that's how you get the
one‐mile, the two‐mile spots.

What we want to do in here
with our burn is we want to

get it hot enough to kill all
these little baby green trees.

People's fear of fire is
preventing us from putting

fire on the ground
here in a good way.

In a way that'll make the
people who live out here safer.

But fire's not the enemy.

I'm at,
like, 58 and, uh 58 and 43.

Yep, I'm there. 59 and 43.

Okay.

Danny's people have been burning
here for thousands of years,

and there's still
forests, you know?

In Hoopa, we actually
do a lot of prescribed burns

in a lot of our village sites.

We don't want to kill all
the trees and scorch the land.

You just want to manage
how many trees are growing.

We've been doing
it for centuries.

The whole
thing about living in the woods

is figuring out a balance.

We like to think that
we can control nature.

Fire doesn't care
what we think.

And whether it's the
railroad or arson or PG&E,

or lightning,
we will have fires.

There's nothing we can do
to keep that from happening.

I'm excited.
So, this is the bedroom.

I'm standing in the bedroom.

One of them.
Yeah, it's gonna be nice.

I'm going to have
this house built soon.

So I'm not going to
be the first one, but I,

it's not about that, you know?

It was never about that.

It was always just
wanting to come home.

- Mom?
- Yes?

Do we have,
can we have some towels?

Yeah.

When we first got here,
the kids were stressed out,

throwing fits and stuff.

Now the kids are
actually happier.

They know that we're going
to be here for a little bit.

And, you know, the kids
call it a FEMA home.

FEMA's.

It's FEMA's.
But are we staying in it?

Yeah.

I have to remain in
Paradise because of Arabella

going to school in Paradise.

Uh‐oh.

Um, I'm going to
start school in a few days.

I've got pencils and
then some crayons.

I think
I'm a little lost.

I don't really know
where I'm supposed to be.

It just says Warehouse.

Is it, like that
building up there?

Oh,
it's, so they forget to
switch it, so it's gym.

Today, first day of school,
is always like this.

It doesn't take a fire for
everything to be hectic and

running around and trying
to figure things out.

It did add to it this year.

We actually didn't have water,
because we had an issue with

our filtration tanks that
we had installed out front.

Ew.

But, yeah, everyone
seems very happy,

very positive and all that.

Hi, Fern.
This is Carly Ingersoll,

school psychologist
at the high school.

The wheelchair, we
did get it ordered,

it's all been confirmed
now, and it is on the way.

Thanks so much, Fern.

Talk to you soon. Bye‐bye.

Hello, this is Carly.

I'm really thankful
that school started.

We're talking about
the future now.

We've, we've
had our time in the past
and dealt with the trauma.

And we really are
going to heal together.

These kids are everything.

And the fact that they came
back, we can come back.

If you can't hear us,
we'll yell a little louder.

If you can't hear us,
we'll yell a little louder.

We're from Paradise,
couldn't be prouder.

If you can't hear us,
we'll yell a little louder.

For us to
have this number of kids,

the first thing I thought was,
"I've got to call Phil."

Because he would
have loved it.

I am
announcing my retirement.

Home is where the people you
love are, and Phil's not here.

I hate this fricking view.

Wouldn't it be nice just
to wake up and have this be

a bad dream and have Phil be
here and have no burnt down.

Mm‐hmm.

Crap everywhere?

There's a bunch
of dragonflies.

Right after the fire
the police department was

put on 13‐hour
days indefinitely.

Like, no days off.

And my wife and I
were having issues.

And then after Christmas,

I, I moved out
into the trailer.

And my ex‐wife has the
loss of use policy money,

and she's staying
in, in a house.

I have the boys Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday,

and every other Thursday.

How do you like trailer life?

I really
miss my home showers.

They're so cold.

The one thing that we
definitely agree on is to keep

the focus on the boys
and try and figure out what

kind of future needs
to be built for them.

I don't see it being here,
in Paradise.

PG&E announced it had reached

a $13.5 billion
settlement agreement
with wildfire victims.

We're talking about thousands

of wildfire victims,
past fires as well.

So, we don't know
if individual victims

will really see
a lot of money.

There's
a lot of people here real
messed up from this fire.

A lot of guys
that want to come back
and their wives won't,

they were so traumatized.

Alright? It's alright.

I'm ready.

Let's go.
It's big deal. Alright.

I'm fortunate my wife
wants to come back.

New key, new home.

- Welcome home.
- Welcome home.

We had a long year.

It's been a hard year.

No more fire...

An older guy came by,

he says, “My wife
made this for you guys.

Welcome back home.”

You know, so that
was kind of nice.

We don't know him.

It's the community,
you know, so.

A lot of people
said it's wrong to rebuild.

I'm 74 years old,
I don't give a...

You know,
is it right to build a
house in a hurricane zone

in Miami on the beach?

This is where I want to be.

That's not
looking all too good.

This has been on my property
longer than I've been alive.

This is a cherry tree.

So was that, that, that,
that, that, and that.

You'll see, like, pictures
of Japan and, like,

their cherry
blossoms and stuff,

that's what I had
in my backyard.

And then I have
the running creek.

I would just sit out here.

Like, right around here.

I had a deck right there,
so I would sit there, too.

And my property was
like pure serenity.

I loved Paradise.

Paradise is my true home.

I'm going to move
back up here.

I'm going to rebuild on
this property right here.

And I want to
raise my kids here.

By that time, Paradise
will be what it used to be,

and even more beautiful.

On behalf
of the town council and staff,

I'd like to welcome everyone
here this morning to this very

important milestone event.

It is
so important to remember
we aren't alone in this.

As we rebuild our
lives, we begin to heal.

And as we heal, we feel
ourselves rising from the

ashes like the phoenix.

That we will survive,

thrive and together we
will create a beautiful
and lasting community.

And
if that's not Paradise,

I don't know what is.

We're from Paradise,
couldn't be prouder.

If you can't hear us,
we'll yell a little louder.

Touchdown Paradise!

Today is the
last day to donate to
the Alabama fundraiser.

So, if you guys have any
last minute donations,

put them in super‐fast.

We heard about
tornados that hit Alabama,

and we decided it'd
be nice to show them
the support that we got.

Before I'd see
the news and I'd be like,

oh, that's really sad.

Like, I hope that they
can get help and stuff.

But now I see the news
and I'm like, oh my gosh,

I need to help them.

We understand
the feeling, so...

Yeah.

Beauregard, Alabama.

Oh my God.

It is
the worst tornado outbreak

the United States
in nearly six years.

Dorian is
now one of the most powerful
hurricanes in history.

Cape Town could become the

first major city
to run out of water.

Floodwaters in Bangladesh,

India and Nepal has left
tens of thousands stranded.

Flames
devoured seaside resort towns

along Greece's eastern coast.

More than a million
Japanese people have

been advised to
leave their homes.

We are dealing with
record breaking floods.

For the first time the
threat level across Sydney

was dialed up to catastrophic.

As weather conditions
deteriorated,

fire after fire
escalated to emergency level.

♪ I always thought
I'd cross that river ♪

♪ The other side, distant now ♪

♪ As I got close it
turned and widened ♪

♪ Horizon now, fading out ♪

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.