Paradise

One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire

De: Lizzie Johnson

Narrado por: Lizzie Johnson

A cautionary tale for a new era of megafires, Paradise is the gripping true story of a town wiped off the map and the determination of its people to rise again.

The inspiration for the Apple Original Film The Lost Bus, starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera

“A tour de force story of wildfire and a terrifying look at what lies ahead.”—San Francisco Chronicle (Best Books of the Year)

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. The definitive firsthand account of the nation’s deadliest wildfire in a century, Paradise is a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies.

Amazing Storytelling!

The most comprehensive account of the Camp Fire I’ve ever read. However, Lizzie Johnson’s articulate narrative brought the story to life - unlike any other audiobook I’ve ever listened to. A very moving experience.

Outstanding narration & thoughtfully told.

Loved it. My heart goes out to every victim of the Camp Fire; Human & animal. A cautionary tale for all.

Such a difficult story, but so well told.

As someone who works in public outreach for a fire agency in a wildfire prone area, this is a great piece of work that I recommend to every fire official, planning official, local leader, legislator, etc.

Haunted my dreams

Listening to this book on my morning walks haunted my dreams at night. It’s that good. I live not far from Paradise and still remember that first day vividly.

A riveting account

The book covers the events of 2018 when a California wildfire burned down the town of Paradise, making it at the time the US' deadliest wildfire in a century. I read this as a part of a book club, we decided on this book only a few days after the horrible events of the Maui wildfires (2023) so reading it in the aftermath of those events also made it even more impactful. But also it drew attention to the book's description which says: "a riveting examination of what went wrong and how to avert future tragedies as the climate crisis unfolds".

The description of how the events unfolded is chilling and demonstrates how horribly things can go wrong in a situation like this, both with logistics and technology, not to mention the role that infrastructure and lack of maintenance played in this tragedy.

There are many heartbreaking passages but the list of casualties and their circumstances when found was extremely sad for me, a bit reminiscent of how I felt witnessing the victims of Pompeii.

All in all I felt the writing was good. It does a good job of relating both personal and public records of events.