California fire officials this week published a dramatic video documentary showing glimpses inside the chaotic and lethal first few hours of last fall’s Camp Fire from the perspective of the firefighters who rushed in.
The November 2018 fire would turn out to be the worst wildfire in state history, destroying nearly 90 percent of the town of Paradise as well as other hillside communities in Butte County. In total, 85 people died and 19,000 structures were destroyed.
Early in the 17-minute video, called “Into The Fire,” a camera inside a firetruck shows flames feet away as the truck races along a black and smoky hill road. “Oncoming!” someone in the truck shouts as headlights suddenly appear out of the flames ahead.
“I fully expected, giving those orders, we were putting firefighters in jeopardy,” a supervisor says. Notably, though, no firefighters were killed in the near month-long siege.