National Geographic - USA (2020-04)

‘IF YOU GO LOOK AT A MAP,

YOU’LL FIND PARADISE, CALIFORNIA 95969,

BUT EVERYTHING ABOUT IT IS DIFFERENT ...

YOU FEEL LOST IN YOUR OWN TOWN.

AND THAT’S A VERY DIFFICULT THING TO PROCESS.’

KAYLA COX, HOMEMAKER

RIGHT

A mobile home

community along the

Honey Run Road in

Paradise, California, was

one of many neighbor-

hoods destroyed by the

so-called Camp fire in

2018. The state’s dead-
      liest, most destructive
      fire on record, it killed
      86 people, displaced
      tens of thousands in
      the region, and burned
      almost all of Paradise
      (population 26,800).
      BELOW
      Muller made this por-
      trait of Don Criswell
      playing the piano for
      his wife, Debbie, in
      their house, one of the
      few in Paradise to sur-
      vive. Before the fire,
      Don performed up to
      five nights a week in
      Paradise. “It went to
      zero in one moment,”
      he says. The Criswells
      are thankful their home
      didn’t burn, but the
      Paradise they knew has
      disappeared. In their
      house, says Debbie,
      “we can sort of pretend
      everything is OK. But
      then you drive up the
      road and remember
      that the place where
      it was is gone.”

Paradise,

California

U.S.

NORTH

AMERICA

39.75°N, 121.61°W PAGE 46