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Paradise
Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire | Lizzie Johnson
4 posts | 3 read | 7 to read
The definitive firsthand account of California’s Camp Fire, the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century, Paradise is a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies as the climate crisis unfolds “A reportorial tour de force.”—Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile On November 8, 2018, the people of Paradise, California, awoke to a mottled gray sky and gusty winds. Soon the Camp Fire was upon them, gobbling an acre a second. Less than two hours after the fire ignited, the town was engulfed in flames, the residents trapped in their homes and cars. By the next morning, eighty-five people were dead. As a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, Lizzie Johnson was there as the town of Paradise burned. She saw the smoldering rubble of a historic covered bridge and the beloved Black Bear Diner and she stayed long afterward, visiting shelters, hotels, and makeshift camps. Drawing on years of on-the-ground reporting and reams of public records, including 911 calls and testimony from a grand jury investigation, Johnson provides a minute-by-minute account of the Camp Fire, following residents and first responders as they fight to save themselves and their town. We see a young mother fleeing with her newborn; a school bus full of children in search of an escape route; and a group of paramedics, patients, and nurses trapped in a cul-de-sac, fending off the fire with rakes and hoses. In Paradise, Johnson documents the unfolding tragedy with empathy and nuance. But she also investigates the root causes, from runaway climate change to a deeply flawed alert system to Pacific Gas and Electric’s decades-long neglect of critical infrastructure. A cautionary tale for a new era of megafires, Paradise is the gripping story of a town wiped off the map and the determination of its people to rise again.
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Amiable
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Pickpick

An unflinching account of the California Camp Fire, which suddenly sparked and spread without warning, killing 85 and destroying the town of Paradise. It follows several people as they try to escape—the minute-by-minute accounts make you feel like you are fleeing with them. The book also examines the climate conditions and political decisions that contributed to the disaster.

Prompt: I‘m Out of Left Field
And that‘s a wrap for #Nonfiction2022

Suet624 Just be a tough read. 1y
Amiable @Suet624 It definitely is —you can practically feel the heat and smell the smoke as you are reading about the slow crawl down the mountain through the flames. 1y
Singout Way to go! I haven‘t even done one bingo line yet! 1y
Amiable @Singout It probably helps that I had a very elastic definition for some of these categories. LOL 1y
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Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

This fantastic, emotionally devastating book follows people on the ground in Paradise, CA as the Camp Fire approached and ripped through their town. It‘s very different to read this than to have simply experienced the news reports—this is so personal. Be aware that there are some very frank descriptions of death here that are hard to read.

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TorieStorieS
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Wow- powerful, eye-opening and heart-breaking, Johnson‘s first book vividly details the devastating Camp Fire of 2018 that ravaged Paradise, CA. Though I saw some of the damage from afar on a trip to Northern California in 2019, this book describes the events from a variety of vantage points to highlight the real horrors. Though it made me stomach roil with tension, I couldn‘t stop reading. Impeccably researched, this is sure to spark discussion!

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Megabooks
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A small but mighty #NewReleaseTuesday. An account of California‘s Camp Fire blurbed by Erik Larson. I‘m diving right in. #audiobook

TiredLibrarian You might check this one out too, if you haven't already. 3y
Megabooks @TiredLibrarian interesting!! Thank you. I didn‘t know there was already a book on the same town. I wonder how similar they are. 🤔🤔 3y
Cinfhen I‘ve heard wonderful things about the book that @TiredLibrarian mentioned!! Curious about both titles 3y
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TiredLibrarian @Megabooks @Cinfhen I want to read the new one and see how they compare. Fire in Paradise was a difficult read, but very well done. 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I‘m finishing up this book, but I‘m excited to get deeper into Paradise tonight @TiredLibrarian 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I‘m holding off on this because the narration is very high pitched and a bit perky/young. I‘ve had an earache today, and I‘m thinking maybe they should‘ve gotten a VO artist. Maybe I‘m just crabby! 😂😂 Going to wait til my ears calm down to try again. 3y
Cinfhen A weak narration makes a big difference!! Totally get it 3y
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