"Of small communities across 11 states, more than 500 have a higher wildfire hazard potential than Paradise, Calif."

"It started when hot autumn winds snapped a power line east of Paradise, California, showering the ground with sparks.

Flames shot up in dry grass near the Feather River, fanned into nearby pine trees and raced 8 miles to town.

Eighty-five people died and nearly 19,000 buildings were destroyed in the Camp Fire, the state's deadliest wildfire.

No one could have anticipated such a catastrophe, people said. The fire's speed was unprecedented, the ferocity unimaginable, the devastation unpredictable.

Those declarations were simply untrue. Though the toll may be impossible to predict, worst-case fires are a historic and inevitable fact."

Pamela Ren Larson and Dennis Wagner report for the Arizona Republic July 24, 2019. [2]