THE STORY OF COMMUNITY.
On the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, a spark from a transmission line in Northern California melded with climate-impacted conditions to quickly grow into a devastating firestorm that engulfed the picturesque city of Paradise, California, killing 85 people, displacing 50,000 residents, and destroying 95 percent of local architecture in what became known as the Camp Fire. It was the deadliest U.S. fire in 100 years, and the worst ever in California. As citizens soon faced the damage to their lives, their homes, and over 150,000 acres in and around their 141-year-old town, they also did something amazing: They worked together to heal. The community went on to forge a stronger bond than they’d had before the catastrophe, even as their spirit of hope and resilience faced continued adversity due to relocations, financial crises, government hurdles, water poisoning, grief, and PTSD.
From the moment the crisis began, Oscar-winning director Ron Howard led a filmmaking team that would go on to spend a year with Paradise residents, documenting their efforts to recover what was lost — while their town became a de facto lesson in what we as a society must all do: Protect our environment, help our neighbors, plan for future dangers, and remember to preserve the traditions that unite us, just as these resilient citizens did when they began the important task of REBUILDING PARADISE. Join our panelists as they talk about this sense of community and how lessons learned from this tragedy are more relevant than ever in our current environment. This is storytelling NOW.
