New Timeline of Deadliest California Wildfire Could Guide Lifesaving Research and Action

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New Timeline of Deadliest California Wildfire Could Guide Lifesaving Research and Action

A man (Alexander Maranghides) stands on a hill overlooking a landscape burned by the Camp Fire.

On a brisk November morning in 2018, a fire sparked in a remote stretch of canyon in Butte County, California, a region nestled against the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Fueled by a sea of tinder created by drought, and propelled by powerful gusts, the flames grew and traveled rapidly. In less than 24 hours, the fire had swept through the town of Paradise and other communities, leaving a charred ruin in its wake.

The Camp Fire was the costliest disaster worldwide in 2018 and, having caused 85 deaths and destroyed more than 18,000 buildings, it became both the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history, two records the fire still holds today.

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A welcome sign stands next to burned buildings in Paradise after the Camp Fire.

Piecing Together the Timeline of California’s Deadliest Wildfire

Feb. 8, 2021
A monstrous wildfire known as the Camp Fire nearly razed the town of Paradise, California, in 2018 and remains the state’s deadliest and costliest wildfire to date. Within the turmoil left in the wake of the inferno, researchers at NIST saw an opportunity to learn how to better protect wildfire-prone communities.
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