Residents in Paradise learn lessons about rebuilding their community after Camp Fire

CBS News

03-06-2025

Six years have passed since the northern California town of Paradise was decimated by the Camp Fire and now the community has been rebuilt, but in a way that can better withstand another wildfire.
Jen Goodlin is the director of the Rebuild Paradise Foundation organization, in a town that gained notoriety in 2018 when the Camp Fire ripped through.
"We were a heavily wooded forest town, beautiful, millions of trees with homes plopped in there. and now we're not that," Goodlin said.
Ninety percent of Paradise's homes were lost in the fire, but six years later, the landscape has changed to prepare for future incidents.
"We are growing like crazy. We were the fastest growing town three years in a row in the whole state of California," Goodlin said. "Not just 90% of homes lost, but we lost our canopy."
In place of Paradise's previous tree canopy, there are now fire-resistant landscapes everywhere.
"Our town has created an ordinance that you actually cannot plant next to your house," she explained.
The ordinance was triggered by an economic reality affecting homeowners in recent years.
"My insurance went up 600%. I have a home built to the highest code; I don't have any plants next to it," Goodlin said. "I know we live in a high-hazard area. That's never going to change, but if I'm reducing my risk, there should be some give."
Since several of Goodlin's neighbors had also taken similar precautions, she invited Mercury Insurance president Victor Joseph to visit Paradise.
"He saw the measures that our community was taking, not only the homeowner but the town and the Fire Safe Council," Goodlin said. "All the layers of protection and he started writing policies that day, getting people off the FAIR Plan."
Goodlin's insurance bill dropped by $4,000.
"I think we see each other as enemies: insurance and the homeowner and it's just the wrong way to see it, we are not at odds," she said. "They want us to reduce our risk, I also want to because I don't want my home to burn down."
For her neighbors who prefer the forested landscape of the past, they'll inevitably face pressure to adapt to firewise standards since no one household can be fire-safe alone.
"The more people start following these standards, the more insurable we'll be as a community," she said.