Paradise Fire/Camp Creek Fire 11/08/2018 (Napa, Magalia: power lines, renters, insuring)

[DanceswithBeagles]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

I had written a long post, in a motel room, and when I clicked "post" the wi fi died. I wish City Data would work on this, not the first time. you type and all is gone, not like a draft saved from G mail.
I will type it later, we are OK, but for 14 minutes I was thinking, what is better, die by gunshot quickly or die by fire slowly.
I will be back.

SO glad to hear from you!

[cartman]

Originally Posted by DanceswithBeagles

SO glad to hear from you!

Ditto!!

[greatblueheron]

Originally Posted by evening sun

The entire state of California is full of natural threats, wildfires, & earthquakes, even a volcano ( Lassen) that erupted just one hundred years ago. But we love to live here anyway.

I was living in San Francisco when we had the 89 earthquake & that took many lives too. But it did not stop the area from growing.

Floods & mudslides wrecked parts of Marin & Santa Cruz counties too,in recent years.

I've visited CA several times, different areas, EVENING SUN.... I can certainly understand why you love living there. Would love it too if I wasn't stuck on the east coast.

Thinking of you

[JGC97]

Very good to hear from you mgforshort and terribly sorry you are going through this but happy you got out.

I just came across this article that includes a video clip of a reporter talking to someone from Cal Fire about the ferocity of the Camp Fire. The article has info on the Woolsey Fire in Southern California, as well but make sure to watch the video clip. The fires in this state are intensifying and it looks like fire personnel are not only trying to keep the fire away from Chico but now the little town of Oroville (pop. 19K) is under threat. The winds are driving it. And no rain forecast for another two weeks.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/to...nia/ar-BBPyhZw

[movinon]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

I had written a long post, in a motel room, and when I clicked "post" the wi fi died. I wish City Data would work on this, not the first time. you type and all is gone, not like a draft saved from G mail.
I will type it later, we are OK, but for 14 minutes I was thinking, what is better, die by gunshot quickly or die by fire slowly.
I will be back.

You're here! We've been wondering if you were OK. So glad you checked in. We'll be here waiting for you when you're ready.

[mgforshort]

I'm typing this in Gmail draft mode and try copy and paste because I don't want to redo it if the wifi is lost again. Please forgive me if it gets botched into several posts. City Data IT manager, please create an update where posts are saved in the background, before posted, just in case the computer throws a hiccup. Google has this feature, called the draft mode.

We left our house in Paradise about 10:45 AM, Thursday, November 8th. There was no power by then but I could use the garage door closer, then I went back to turn of the big Generac. I forgot to turn off the water. After getting out of our driveway, 2 minutes later we hit gridlock on Valley View Drive. Approximately 2-300 cars, or more, hard to tell, were stopped ahead of us, all waiting to get on the Skyway Road to Chico. Both lanes, the going and coming lanes were all occupied by cars, trucks, huge motorhomes, INCHING their way towards Chico. It was complete stop and wait, maybe ten minutes, then drive 30 feet, and stop and wait another seven minutes. When we could drive it was slower than the speed of walking.
By about 11:30, sitting on Valley View and later on Oliver, the town was darker then at midnight, from the smoke. Darker because the moon and all stars were blocked, street lights were all out, the only illumination came from the cars' headlights. Later on we could see much better, due to the FLAMES; but that wasn't good news.

Normally a trip from our house to the Foodmax Grocery in Chico is 14 miles or 30 minutes.
Not this time. It took us, with my wife behind me driving our Kona, about 4 hours to get to a park in Chico. Several times I thought of getting out for a number one ( enlarged prostate ), but she would hate me for it the rest of my life; so I held it. Mgforshort, act like a man.
After we got on the Skyway we could see homes and businesses on fire, or burned to the ground. There was no telling which was which in the total darkness. The flames gave some light, in addition to the headlights of cars. The trees on fire, in our town famous for its big trees, looked like a forty-feet high torch on steroids.
Getting to Pearson from Elliot, on the Skyway, a 3 minute-walk, took us maybe an hour. At one point where the Skyway was licked by fires on both sides, we slowed down to maybe 1 mph, the same speed when you are pushing a disabled vehicle. It was windy but not that strong, and I was thinking if the wind picks up and nobody can move, then we'll be all burning here, alive, in our cars.
At this point all 3-4 lanes of the Skyway were full of cars, moving south. We had to allow emergency vehicles coming up, and by moving a bit aside these trucks made it through, going into the fire.

I had a handgun with me, (no choice, it is part of the evacuation routine to remove all weapons from the home). I kept wondering, what is worse, a quick painless death by gunshot, or a long, painful death by fire. I lived long enough and wasn't desperate, but we were surrounded with children, pets, next to us a girl by herself with her baby strapped in the child seat behind her.
There were people getting out of their cars and walking away. As I learned from TV later in the evening, four people burned to death in their cars, and we were told altogether nine people died, but this number might go higher.

Getting to Chico, the gridlock wouldn't ease up. Finally we could pull over in a park and take a deep breath. From here we drove to Chico Hyundai, (should have been a 13 minute drive, but took more than one hour). I asked Remy, the manager, if we could leave our Kona with them for a few days and they helped us, great people. I didn't want to be separated from my wife.

After parking the little red Kona we took the bigger SUV, the Santa FE, loaded with me, my Honey, the Airedale, and our parrot. Time by then was around 4 PM. We wasted an hour trying to locate a motel room in Chico, but there were not any vacancies. At this point we got on the 99 freeway to Red Bluff. That city is 80 miles north of Paradise, and the six motels we tried were all completely full. Finally, at the seventh motel we found a room.
For all members here, showing your concern, THANK YOU!

And now, two days after, the latest numbers are that 6,400 homes and 260 businesses were lost in our former town of Paradise. That is about the right number for a population of 26,000.
The Feather River Hospital was reported as complete loss, later they told us there is damage and one building is gone, the rest is usable. I'm not sure what now. Please, please don't get sick in Paradise.


We are in our seventies, much too old waiting for a rebuild, which might take a decade or two. We have a major shortage of contractors up here. Our plan is to take the insurance settlement and the next day we'll be driving to Bella Vista, Arkansas, or even Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Look out, Nita, we are taking you out to dinner, and you must tell us the good, the bad, and the ugly about that part of your state!

I wonder if anyone here can advise us regarding dealing with our Hartford Insurance company. We plan to sign off on our land and the ruins, and just take the check they offer. We just paid our premium in August, from September 2018 to September 2019.

When we moved here from Orange County in 2015 I was convinced that Paradise would be perfect to spend my days until I buy the farm. That unplanned purchase came very, very close, nevertheless, we'll be looking for another spot, for another day. Amen.

Update: minutes after I clicked on "post reply" the report came on television that the number of deceased went up to twenty-three.
Please pray for them, if you can.

[JGC97]

Wow, mg. What a harrowing experience. So happy to know you made it out safely. As for the rest, I say go for it. Deal with the insurance and leave all this behind. I've visited Bella Vista once and it's beautiful. And with Nita there, you already have a built-in friend. Thank you so much for updating us. I'm so very sorry to learn the number of deaths has increased, although I suspected it would. And there may be more so all we can do is wait for more news. Stay safe and thank you again for coming here with an update.

[BurntCoffey]

You got out safely and the rest you had no control over. Well done. Your insurance should be giving you money right away to help you with living expenses... keep track of your food, lodging, or any other receipts. Try and find temporary housing as soon as you can. Insurance will cover that. Pay attention to your health, both mental and physical to get you through this terrible experience. There will be centers set up to help you moving forward. We had so much assistance here in Santa Rosa last year that it made dealing with the trauma manageable. You’ll be amazed by the kindness of those around you.

Glad you made it out...

[JGC97]

Just want to share some of the videos of what the people in Paradise experienced as they escaped the Camp Fire ....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amUW2NrA9S8



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXethjphM6E


And this one from CBS ....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83AcaESp2MM

[LoriNJ]

mgforshort, you must be shell-shocked. I can't imagine what nightmarish scenes you and your wife saw. I am glad you are both OK (and your Airedale and parrot) and thank you for your first-hand account. Take care.