CA Residents Can Return Home To Fire-Leveled Paradise: PHOTOS
BUTTE COUNTY, CA — Residents of Paradise, California, were told that they could return back home on Wednesday, Nov. 5, nearly a month after the northern town was leveled by a deadly wildfire. The bittersweet news comes after evacuation orders were lifted for eastern neighborhoods Magalia and Concow a couple of days prior.
Paradise locals, along with inhabitants of its two neighboring communities, make up a population of more than 50,000 people who were all “forced to flee the wind-driven flames that charred 240 square miles (622 square kilometers)” of the area, reported AP News. Butte County Sheriff’s Office revealed in a recent statement that about 14,000 homes were destroyed and 85 people killed when the Nov. 8 wildfire threatened the parched foothills of Sierra Nevada.
While there will be limited access to Paradise, Magalia and Concow residents upon their return home Wednesday, officials have confirmed that neighborhoods will be open to anyone on Thursday, Dec. 6.
“The communities will have very limited services for the immediate future, and authorities urged residents to bring food, water and fuel for their vehicles with them,” AP News also reported. There has also been concern in regards to the ash and hazardous waste left behind, with authorities telling residents not move back officially until it’s all cleared away. Furthermore, residents were warned about the complications associated with possible upcoming rainstorms, which can result in dangerous flash floods, mud and debris flows.
As of today, 11 people are still unaccounted for since the deadliest U.S. wildfire, a huge drop from the hundreds reported in the immediate aftermath. The local hospital of the Northern California region is still standing, with officials assuring that it will reopen. Smaller buildings, including some hospital offices, were destroyed.
See new photos of the aftermath in California, as residents in Paradise, Magalia and Concow return home to the wildfire-damaged communities.
Wednesday Dec. 5, 2018
Returning resident Frank Windt checks his home that was burned in the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
Jennifer Christensen holds remnants of porcelain dolls that her grandmother gave her every Christmas that she found in the remains of her home destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Christensen and her 2-year-old son, Avery, moved to Paradise about a year ago. Christensen is not sure of her future plans but feels so much loyalty to her town that she recently had a tattoo done on her upper arm that reads, “Love is thicker than smoke,” and below that, “Paradise Strong.” (AP Photo/Don Thompson)
Jennifer Christensen shows off her new tattoo in honor of Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Don Thompson)
Jennifer Christensen sorts through items found in a safe at the remains of her home in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Don Thompson)
Jerry and Joyce McLean, wearing hazmat suits, look for sentimental items sifting through the remains of their home in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Don Thompson)
A flag flies amidst the remains of Jerry and Joyce McLean’s home in Paradise California. (AP Photo/Don Thompson)
Jerry McLean, wearing a hazmat suit, looks over his father’s vice grip that he found in the remains of his home in Paradise California. (AP Photo/Don Thompson)
Resident Omar Franklin returns to his home destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
Tuesday Dec. 4, 2018
Sara Sullivan searches for belongings at her Magalia, California, home, destroyed by the Camp Fire. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
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A bed rests outside Cypress Meadows Post-Acute, a nursing home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A chair rests outside Cypress Meadows Post-Acute, a nursing home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Scorched wheelchairs rest outside Cypress Meadows Post-Acute, a nursing home leveled by the Camp Fire, in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Jean Uno searches for heirlooms at her parent’s Magalia, California, home, destroyed by the Camp Fire. Uno also lost her home in Paradise during the blaze. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Following the Camp Fire, a patio umbrella stands among the wreckage of a Magalia, California home. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Monday Dec. 3, 2018
Homes leveled by the Camp Fire line Valley Ridge Drive in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
More homes leveled by the Camp Fire line the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Candies rest on a shelf at Darlene’s Fine Chocolates & Ice Cream Parlor, destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A water dispenser stands outside a Safeway store destroyed by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Trees reflect in a swimming pool outside Erica Hail’s Paradise, California, home, which burned during the Camp Fire. Hail, along with her husband and three kids, plan on staying in a Yuba City hotel room through February. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A vehicle rests in front of a home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Lead image by AP Photo/Noah Berger; Sourced from AP News.