Paradise is reduced to ash, but memories survive the flames
PARADISE, Calif. — There’s a sweet legend about this town: On a blazing summer day in the 1850s, a lumber mill crew with a wagon and ox took a break under a grove of tall evergreens. The air was cool, the pine needles fragrant.
“Boys,” said the team boss, “this is paradise.”
Thus, more than 170 years ago, Paradise was born. From the start, it was enriched with gold mined from nearby hills and lumber harvested from the forests. Over generations, thousands lived and loved here; they built homes and businesses, schools and houses of worship, parks and museums that proudly honoured Paradise’s place in American history.
In a matter of hours last week, it all disappeared.