Faith Brown, seventeen, could hardly wait: I originally wrote about Faith for the San Francisco Chronicle. Lizzie Johnson, “She Couldn’t Wait to Leave Paradise. Now Faith, 17, Aches for What She Lost,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 30, 2018, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/She-couldn-t-wait-to-leave-Paradise-Now-Faith-13497737.php.
(her husband, Phil John): This book is dedicated to Phil John because he was the bedrock of Paradise, its unofficial ambassador. His death came as a shock to the community. “It is just the highest of highs and lowest of lows,” former fire chief Jim Broshears told me. “There was this beautiful graduation in this spectacular setting that no one initially thought would happen. A few days later, Phil has a heart attack. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around it.” Lizzie Johnson, “ ‘He Tried to Make Paradise All Its Name Implied’: Long After the Camp Fire, Resident’s Death Opens Wounds,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 21, 2019, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/He-tried-to-make-Paradise-all-its-name-14026656.php.
Principal Loren Lighthall, forty-six, paced: Lizzie Johnson, “The Paradise Principal: Loren Lighthall Guided Paradise High Through the Devastation of the Camp Fire. But in the Wake of the Disaster, the Beloved School Leader and His Family Had to Confront What Was Lost, and Where They Stood,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2019, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/The-Paradise-principal-In-the-wake-of-disaster-14056148.php.
after reading about the Camp Fire in his local newspaper: That article appeared in the Los Angeles Times. Hailey Branson-Potts and Louis Sahagun, “The Epic Undertaking to Start School Again Amid the Devastation of the Camp Fire,” Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2018, latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-camp-fire-schools-restarting-20181203-story.html.
OBSERVATION: ANNIVERSARY
Only 2,034 residents had returned: Lizzie Johnson, “The Sky Was Blue. The Day Was Perfect. But in Paradise on Friday, Nothing Felt Right,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 8, 2019, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/The-sky-was-blue-The-day-was-perfect-But-in-14821551.php.
all the things they had lost: The list of beloved things that were lost came from a Google survey of twenty-five residents, along with interviews with sources and conversations I had with residents while living in Paradise, waiting in line at the Holiday Market, eating at Sophia’s Thai, getting coffee at Starbucks.
CHAPTER 20: RECKONING
Interviews: Butte County district attorney Mike Ramsey; Arielle Funk and Jessee Ernest.
to be only indirectly related: Butte County District Attorney’s Office, Summary of the Camp Fire Investigation.
the petroleum company BP had made news: J. D. Morris and Lizzie Johnson, “PG&E to Plead Guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter, Fire-Starting in Camp Fire,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 23, 2020, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/PG-E-pleads-guilty-to-arson-manslaughter-in-Camp-15150340.php.
if PG&E had been an actual person: Lizzie Johnson and J. D. Morris, “PG&E Legal Saga Reaches Climax with Camp Fire Sentencing, Bankruptcy Approval,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2020, sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-legal-saga-reaches-climax-with-Camp-Fire-15350339.php.
Ramsey could only seek $10,000: J. D. Morris and Lizzie Johnson, “ ‘Guilty, Your Honor’: PG&E Enters Pleas for 85 Camp Fire Felonies,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 16, 2020, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/PG-E-pleads-guilty-to-84-counts-of-involuntary-15344269.php.
A 696-page report released by the California Public Utilities Commission: J. D. Morris, “Camp Fire Failure Part of PG&E’s ‘Pattern’ of Poor Maintenance, Regulators Say,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 3, 2019, sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/Regulators-PG-E-could-have-prevented-Camp-Fire-14877131.php.
listed her luxury Marin County home for sale: Williams, the CEO, received an 8.1 percent raise in 2018, according to corporate filings, despite the Camp Fire. As part of her compensation while working at PG&E, she was given a car and driver, health club benefits, financial services, and a $51,000 security system for her home. PG&E has said these offerings were tied to “corporate performance.” Claudine Zap, “Former Pacific Gas and Electric CEO Geisha Williams Selling $4.7M Tiburon Mansion,” Realtor.com, March 19, 2020, realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/former-pge-ceo-geisha-williams-selling-tiburon-mansion/.
the ninety-two-page report: The report can be found on the Butte County District Attorney’s website: buttecounty.net/districtattorney/CampFire.
the Caribou-Palermo Line had been erected: J. D. Morris and Lizzie Johnson, “ ‘Guilty, Your Honor.’ ”
less than one eighth of an inch: Butte County District Attorney’s Office, Summary of the Camp Fire Investigation, p. 22.
bought for 22 cents in 1919: Mike Ramsey in discussion with the author, November 7, 2019.
tasked with climbing 5 percent of the towers annually: Butte County District Attorney’s Office, Summary of the Camp Fire Investigation, p. 23.
“This inability to determine who made decisions”: Butte County District Attorney’s Office, Summary of the Camp Fire Investigation, p. 43.
PG&E’s $57.65 billion bankruptcy restructuring plan: More information can be found on PG&E’s website: pge.com/en/about/newsroom/newsdetails/index.page?title=20200620_pge_achieves_bankruptcy_court_confirmation_of_its_plan_of_reorganization.
a move to nearby Oakland: J. D. Morris and Roland Li, “PG&E Will Relocate to Oakland After More than 100 Years in San Francisco,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 8, 2020, sfchronicle.com/business/article/PG-E-will-relocate-to-Oakland-after-more-than-100-15325849.php#:~:text=In%2DDepth-,PG%26E%20will%20relocate%20to%20Oakland%20after%20more%20than%20100%20years,8%2C%202020%209%3A17%20p.m.&text=The%20company%20announced%20Monday%20that,by%20Lake%20Merritt%20in%202022.
IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO DIED
Joyce Acheson, 78
Herbert Alderman, 79
Teresa Ammons, 82
Rafaela Andrade, 84
Carol Arrington, 88
Julian Binstock, 88
David Bradburd, 70
Cheryl Brown, 75
Larry Brown, 72
Richard Clayton Brown, 74
Andrew Burt, 36
Joanne Caddy, 75
Barbara Carlson, 71
Vincent Mario Carota, 65
Dennis Clark, 49
Evelyn Cline, 83
John Arthur Digby, 78
Gordon Dise, 66
Paula Dodge, 70
Randall Dodge, 67
Andrew Downer, 54
Robert Duvall, 76
Paul Ernest, 72
Rose Farrell, 99
Jesus Fernandez, 48
Jean Forsman, 83
Ernest Foss, 63
Elizabeth Gaal, 80
Sally Gamboa, 69
James Garner, 63
Richard Jay Garrett, 58
Bill Godbout, 79
Shirley Haley, 67
Dennis Hanko, 56
Anna (Toni) Hastings, 67
Jennifer Hayes, 53
Christina Heffern, 40
Ishka Heffern, 20
Matilde Heffern, 68
Dorothy Herrera, 93
Lou Herrera, 86
Evva Holt, 85
TK Huff, 71
Gary Hunter, 67
James Kinner, 84
Warren Lessard, 68
Dorothy Lee Mack, 88
Sara Magnuson, 75
Joanne Malarkey, 90
John Malarkey, 89
Chris Maltby, 69
David Marbury, 66
Deborah Morningstar, 66
>
Helen Pace, 84
Joy Porter, 72
Beverly Powers, 64
Robert Quinn, 74
Joseph Rabetoy, 39
Forrest Rea, 89
Venice Regan, 95
Ethel Riggs, 96
Lolene Rios, 56
Jerry Rodrigues, 73
Christopher Salazar, 72
Phyllis Salazar, 76
Sheila Santos, 64
Ronald Schenk, 75
Berniece Schmidt, 93
John Sedwick, 82
Don Shores, 70
Kathy Shores, 65
Judith Sipher, 68
Larry Smith, 80
Russell Stewart, 63
Victoria Taft, 67
Shirlee Teays, 90
Joan Tracy, 80
Ellen Walker, 72
Donna Ware, 86
Isabel Webb, 68
Marie Wehe, 78
Kimber Wehr, 53
Carl Wiley, 77
David Young, 69
Unknown
About the Author
Lizzie Johnson is a staff writer at The Washington Post. Previously, she worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, where she reported on fifteen of the deadliest, largest, and most destructive blazes in modern California history and covered over thirty communities impacted by wildfires. Originally from Nebraska, she lived part-time in Paradise while reporting this book and currently lives in Washington, D.C.
lizziejohnson.net
Facebook.com/lizziejohnsonmedia
Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn
Instagram: @Lizziee.J
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
Paradise Page 42