Amid smoke and ash, wildfire-scarred Paradise rebuilds

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — When flames chased Chuck and Janie Dee down the mountain two years ago, they thought they'd never be back.

Yet there they were on Sunday, parking a camper next to their dirt lot and the shell of what had been their swimming pool, excited for their role in restoring their hometown of Paradise to what it was before the deadliest wildfire in California history destroyed their home and most of the community.

They installed a septic tank. They filed for a building permit. They were really doing it.

The couple made it three days before they had to flee again. They awoke after daybreak Wednesday to darkness, the sky blackened by smoke as the ridge above them glowed orange. Their minds went blank as fear reintroduced itself.

Heading down the mountain again, Janie Dee couldn't help but doubt their decision to return.

“I wondered if we were really doing the right thing,” she said.

The fire never made it to Paradise as other foothill communities bore the terrible brunt, suffering thousands of destroyed structures. But the flames paused the hopeful, exciting and — at times — frustrating work of rebuilding a town that has become synonymous with heartbreak.

In the nearly two years since the Camp Fire, Paradise has tried to entice people back. The road sign heading into town still boasts of a population of more than 26,000. But the reality is closer to 4,000 now, local leaders say.

The 2018 fire struck two weeks before Thanksgiving, destroyed roughly 19,000 structures in and around Paradise and killed 85 people. Before the fire, the town averaged about 25 to 30 new homes built per year, according to Vice Mayor Steve Crowder. As of Wednesday, the town has issued 1,051 building permits for single-family homes and 345 of them are built.

With so much...