This Old House

Kevin

Paradise, site of the worst wildfire in California history.

Avonlea

And I called my husband just to let him know, if we don't make it out, I tried. I will try everything to make sure we get out. But if we don't, I'm sorry. I tried.

Don't get mad at me. I love you. Just...

Man

I didn't know if the rest of the world was ending, but this world that involved Paradise was ending at that time.

Kevin

Over 18,000 buildings were destroyed. 85 residents did not make it out. Many towns would consider giving up, but not Paradise. Today, "This Old House" joins the fight to rebuild Paradise.

It was a dry, hot day on November 8, 2018, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. People were heading to work or off to school.

Crystal

I take my son to school and he looks up at the sky, and he says, "Mom, there's a big cloud of smoke."

Jose

We're running late, so it was a little chaos. "Let's go, let's go." Making lunches, get dressed, get ready, let's go. They got ready. I walked outside.

And as I walk outside to walk to my truck that's in the back, the sky right there -- Not over here. It was blue. Over there was, like, orange. And I was like, "Wow, that's a weird sunrise." And I'm thinking as I get in the truck and I'm driving away, I'm like, "No, we don't have those colors in the morning."

Luke

I was working out of town for the week, working construction for PG&E, doing some dirt work on the road. And, uh, yeah. Went from there.

Kevin

So what did you hear and...?

Luke

We had heard one of the guys, one of the foremans, had heard that there was a fire in the Feather River Canyon. Normal fire. Didn't think nothing of it. So I called my dad because I knew he was home and another buddy of mine called me who lives in town here.

He said, "Dude, it's pretty bad. Everything's blowing up. There's fire all over."

Sniffles

Luke

So...

Chuckles

Luke

But... So I called my dad and he said, "Yeah, it's pretty bad."

Kevin

Pretty bad would turn out to be an understatement. Man #2: Holy cow. With wind gusts approaching hurricane strength, the fire raced from canyon to canyon. Local authorities started a chaotic attempt to evacuate.

Woman

Heavenly Father, please help us. Man #3: See, we're all dropping down, down into two lanes here. Man #4: Well, as long as we're alive, right? Man #3: Yep.

Please help us to be safe.

Siren wailing

Avonlea

Traffic is not moving. It should not take me three hours to get off a half-a-mile-long road, and I just wasn't sure. I really wasn't sure if we were gonna be making it out, at least by car. I don't think anyone would ever believe this.

I thought that I was gonna have to figure out if I was gonna have to leave my animals. I was gonna have to ditch my car with everything in it. We're not safe standing in the middle of the road trying to escape the fire from maybe catching on both sides or from the trees. If I had to run, where am I gonna go?

Like, how -- how are we gonna make it so that I don't burn to death trying to escape?

Kevin

Most of the smaller roads lead to this main drag running right through town. It's called Skyway,

and by 10

30 that morning, Skyway was a parking lot on fire.

Avonlea

You'd have moments of freak out, cry, hyperventilate. And I'd say, "I have to get strong. I have to make it through this."

Joe

It kind of seemed like all hell broke loose, like I couldn't get ahold of her. She was crying and driving and...

Avonlea

That's when I made that phone call to my husband.

Joe

That one was pretty devastating. I mean, just I missed her phone call and all the towers went out, so cellphone service dropped.

Avonlea

If we don't make it out, I tried. I will try everything to make sure we get out. But if we don't, I'm sorry. I tried.

Don't be mad at me. I love you. Just...

Joe

I tried calling her back probably 500 times, and she didn't answer.

Avonlea

I'm sorry.

Kevin

So at that point, that's the last message you heard from her?

Joe

Yep.

Kevin

And then you couldn't get through to her.

Joe

Couldn't get through to her. It took about three hours for her to show back up at my work.

Kevin

What did you do when you saw Joe?

Avonlea

I cried. I gave him a hug. I tried not to... I'm a little bit more emotional than he is, but I tried not to freak out and melt.

And I tried to stay as strong as I could and just let him know what we had gone through. And I felt relief. And once I was with him and could kind of sit, it was, "Now we need to find our family." So...

Kevin

What did he say about the message you left him?

Avonlea

Thanks a lot.

Kevin

By late afternoon, the fire had gone through Paradise. The devastation was hard to believe. 18,000 buildings, over 90% of the homes were totally gone. By mid-afternoon, most residents of Paradise had made it to safety.

85 didn't make it out. The death toll, while staggering, was much lower than expected. Man #1: It's a miracle. It's amazing, it's whatever you want to call it, that that many people didn't die.

Richard

This thing was really bad.

Kevin

Richard, we are seeing things we have never seen before. We are hearing stories we've never heard before. I mean, husbands separated from wives, thousands of people trapped in a burning town. The question on everyone's mind -- could they, should they rebuild?

Richard

But shortly after all this devastation, small signs began to emerge. Paradise was not gonna give up. It was a beautiful community where people really cared about each other, and they decided to rebuild.

Lauren

The debris removal crews actually saved our town for us so we could rebuild. Hundreds of crews came in and dump trucks lined the streets. There were tractors. Everywhere you looked, there were properties being cleared.

People complained about the dump trucks, but they actually saved us.

Kevin

With debris out of the way, the bravest drafted plans to rebuild. Man #5: The builder will give us a set of plans. And from that, we will design the sprinkler system according to the code. Over the course of several months, we followed three families as they rebuilt their lives in Paradise.

So this is exciting, right?

Yes. Jose

Very.

Kevin

How does that feel to see the progress?

Very exciting. Kevin

Yeah?

Jose

It's -- it's awesome.

Kevin

This is the house that Joe and Avonlea moved into five years before the fire, They remodeled. They painted the outside. They even put in a new kitchen. And then in a matter of just a few hours, the home was gone.

Luke

I never had a second thought.

Kevin

Luke was one of the last to leave Paradise that momentous day. He and Crystal will be among the very first to return to a new house.

Luke

It's hometown. I mean, if we can help rebuild it, then... it's that much more satisfying to know that we were part of helping this town come back.

Kevin

Anna and Jose have just begun the rebuilding process. They met with a builder and hope to break ground in a few weeks. When did you know you were gonna rebuild?

Jose

Basically, soon as I knew that it was gone, I knew I was rebuilding.

Kevin

How did you know that?

Jose

Because I want to come back.

Kevin

Joe, Avonlea, and their daughter had a permit to rebuild seven months after the fire.

Joe

It's just how me and my wife are. We kind of like, you know, what we like. So just rebuilding it, you know, same -- same style, basically, but a little bit bigger.

Kevin

How do you feel when you see the house under construction?

Sighs

Avonlea

It's stressful. I'm trying not to let it get to me because I know in the end, it is gonna be beautiful and it is gonna be what I want. But the process is -- it's very stressful.

Kevin

Well, the town continues to issue building permits, and you can imagine in a year or two, there'll be thousands of new homes built in this town.

Richard

But when you look around, you realize this is still a danger zone. And it begs the question, can you build a house that is fire resistant or retardant?

Kevin

And the town is going to adopt those building codes for these fire-prone areas. They may even go beyond it. And in a lot of disasters like these, the fire is moving so quickly that the homes can actually survive the radiant heat. But as we said, it's the embers that homeowners have to worry about.

Well, there is a research lab down in South Carolina that is doing work on how to protect homes from those flying embers. This is the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, IBHS. I'm meeting Roy Wright. He runs the institute, but his interest in Paradise is more than just business.

His parents and brother lived there.

Roy

We are in the big test chamber standing here where we do everything from hurricanes up to cat 3 and 4 to wildfire. Everything here is done at full size. None of this miniature stuff for us here.

Kevin

So particularly in this case, the Paradise situation is personal for you, isn't it?

Roy

Yeah. I woke up to a text

that my mom sent 3

30 Pacific Time. It said, "Our house is gone. Where do I start?" It's one of the most searing things I've ever seen on a phone. And in that moment, every one of those conversations I have had with survivors who had experienced this loss played out in rapid succession.

Kevin

Today, the lab is testing roof materials that could help as Paradise rebuilds. Alright, so, Daniel, tell us what we're gonna be testing today.

Daniel

So today we're gonna look at one of the really critical building components -- the roof. So we're gonna do a standard test to look at how that roof covering performs. Imagine debris, embers, and falling branches laying on there. We want to see if it burns through to the back side inside to your attic.

And what we're looking at here is just kind of the process. We're doing a little bit more kind of on the research side of things. We're taking some advanced measurements and we're trying to, you know, better understand the process there. Yeah, and again, we're just really looking at the roof material and the component and as it kind of ties into the entire house.

Kevin

Wow. You can really see the effect that just a 12-mile-an-hour wind has on that fire.

Daniel

Yeah, it does. So it's adding all the oxygen it needs for that fuel and that heat, getting a nice combustion reaction.

Kevin

What's critical here, though, is it's a race against time, right? Because this will burn itself out. So if this surface can last long enough, it's okay to have a fire. It just won't get through.

Daniel

That's right. It's the idea of resistance, where the fuel on top doesn't burn long or hot enough to burn through and into the building.

Kevin

So the real critical proof is right here on the underside,

what is effectively our attic. Daniel

Exactly.

Kevin

And you even mentioned that there's a weak spot because there's a seam of the plywood.

Daniel

Right.

Kevin

Right now, good news so far.

Daniel

So we're seeing the asphalt and those shingles right there starting to melt and break down. But we know underneath, we have the felt layer and the sheeting plywood. So what we're hoping is that this burning crib on the top isn't enough to start to burn on the inside.

Kevin

Alright. We passed, but what have we learned?

Daniel

So we learned that wildland fires are gonna happen and embers are gonna land on the roof. But with a class-A roof covering like this, it's gonna perform well and prevent that fire from outside getting inside your attic.

Kevin

And for us and for everybody in Paradise, the other lesson is that if you're gonna rebuild, rebuild properly to give yourself the best chance to keep the house alive.

Daniel

Best chance.

Kevin

Daniel, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Jenn

In wildfires, embers are the enemies of houses. So here in Paradise, new codes have been designed to keep the fuel for those embers away from the houses. The code is divided into two zones. In zone one, you want to separate trees and shrubs from other flammable items, remove dead plants, grass and weeds, remove any tree branches that overhang your roof and keep dead branches at least 10 feet from your chimney.

You should prune or remove flammable plants or shrubs near the windows or decks, as well as trim trees to keep branches 10 feet away from other trees. In zone two, you need to create horizontal space between trees and shrubs, keep lawns trimmed down to four inches, remove fallen debris from below trees if it's more than 3 inches deep, and remove bottom branches from all large trees 6 feet from the ground. Derek is a local landscaper working at Luke and Crystal's house. Hey, Derek.

Derek

Hello, how are you doing today?

Jenn

Good to see you. So you want to tell us a little bit about planting in defensible spaces?

Derek

Yeah, what we're doing is we're going ahead and spacing the plants out just a little bit farther apart.

Jenn

So they're not touching when they are fully grown?

Derek

Exactly.

Jenn

And then is there a certain amount of feet you have to plant away from the house?

Derek

Yeah, we want to go ahead and keep the plants away from the house far enough to where when they mature, there's a gap between the plants and the house itself. And then instead of using a bark mulch,

we'll end up using a rock mulch. Jenn

Okay.

Derek

So that is fireproof as possible.

Jenn

Right. So let's just take a walk around and see what you guys are doing.

Derek

Yeah, they're putting in drip system. The drip is gonna go ahead and be placed in underneath the rock mulch. There will be emitters at every one of the plants to go ahead and water the plants.

Jenn

So maybe like 3 inches down?

Correct. Jenn

Okay. And that'll help conserve the water.

It'll go right to the roots. Derek

Right, right.

Jenn

That's good.

Derek

Green grass, especially if it's watered, is much more fire resistant.

Jenn

Okay, so what do you have for trees on site here?

Derek

This is a red maple. It'll grow up to about 25 feet tall, have a 15-foot canopy. The purpose of this tree here is to give us a little bit of shade in the afternoon, protect the house a little bit, but not have a tree that's gonna be too big and overbearing.

Jenn

Right. And be on top of the house. So you'll have to keep it a certain amount of feet. Is this new that you have to have it further away?

Derek

Correct. You're gonna be at least 15 feet away. 20 feet or 30 feet would be even better. This one's grown for its fall colors as it has a nice canopy on it.

Real good leaf during the summertime, but in the fall, it has a real nice color.

Jenn

That's a good one in New England as well. But we don't get to have these in Boston.

Derek

Yeah. And that crape myrtle is gonna give us some beautiful flowers during the summertime.

Jenn

That'll be nice to give the color. So in the northeast, we try to pull plants off the foundation to keep moisture away from the house. Here, it's a little different.

Derek

We're doing it for fire protection here.

Jenn

So all that fuel gets pulled away from the house. And so I think Luke and Crystal are gonna have an amazing new landscape. It's gonna be not too bad to maintain, and it'll just be safer.

Derek

It will be. I think they're gonna really enjoy it.

Great job. Derek

Thank you very much.

Take care. Derek

Bye.

Kevin

Joe and Avonlea's house is coming along probably within a month or two of completion. And the last time we were here, the hearth went in. It was a big piece of granite. And today we've got some more stone work going on.

Hey, Joe, how you doing?

Joe

Hey.

Kevin

Mark,

good to see you. Mark

Good to see you, Kevin.

Kevin

Good of you to come out of Paradise and lend a hand. So we got the columns in the front, stucco up top, stone on the bottom. What are we working with?

Mark

So this is a manufactured stone. It simulates real stone. The good thing about this is in this condition, it's not gonna burn. So that's why we wanted to use something in this fashion.

Kevin

We like that, Joe, right? We don't want any materials that could catch on fire. And that certainly isn't right there. And it's supposed to simulate the look of what?

Mark

Actually just real stone. I mean, this is a flat-stone look. So stackable stone, and that's the look it gives you.

Kevin

Okay, Joe, you approve? You like what you see?

Joe

I do. I like it a lot. You know, I would have liked to have seen it go up to the top if I could, but...

Mark

Mud it up. Flatten it out, and then we're gonna press it into a corner, like that. I like to wiggle it into place. That's gonna assure my bond.

That's it. Press it into those grooves, Joe. Keep it nice and fluffy.

Saw whirring

Mark

We get a level. Make sure we look good.

That looks pretty good. Kevin

There you go.

Mark

Alright, thanks,

Kevin. Kevin

Nice fit.

Mark

Yeah, that'll fit in nice. We'll just bag part of that and put that in. That's it.

Joe

So what are we working with here?

Mark

It's just a polymer mortar, which, for intent and purpose, it's got glue in it. And that's gonna help us stick to our substrate, which is the cement board. Alright. You're looking like you got plenty there, Joe.

Joe

Okay. Just slap it on?

Mark

Just flop it in and just twist it in a bit. You might have to give a little bang. Alright. So I like that wiggle action, Joe.

That's gonna give us a great bond. Alright. So this is our cap piece. Alright.

So we're gonna cut these pieces to length.

Saw whirring

Mark

Alright, so drop that in, Joe. Line her up. Everything looks good. We have our factory edges just the way we wanted.

They go all the way around the post.

Kevin

What do you think?

Joe

I think it looks great.

Kevin

Yeah? Alright. Mark, next steps?

Mark

Next steps, we got to mortar these down. Move over to the next post and we're done.

Kevin

Want to mortar? We'll cut.

Alright. Mark

Alright. Let's get going.

Kevin

Let's go to the saw. Luke and Crystal were the first to move in to their new home. To celebrate, they hosted a party for the other brave families we followed. Terrific.

Well, Crystal and Luke, we appreciate you guys hosting the party. There are so many people here who we have to thank for coming back, for helping everyone rebuild. And we are thrilled that the two of you guys

are back in your house. Luke

Thank you.

Tom

Joe and Avonlea, we were at your house today, helping out Mark McCullough doing some stone work. And in a few short weeks, you should be back in your home.

Hopefully. Tom

It's gonna be great.

Richard

And Jose and Anna and the boys, what, you got two more months? You're coming up on the outside. You're gonna win the race.

Way to go. Kevin

It has been a pleasure working with all of you and everyone who's helped out. I would like to say from our view, at least, that Paradise is back and Paradise is back strong. So welcome home,

everybody. Luke

Thank you.

Kevin

And we are done from Paradise, but we have got a lot more coming up next time. So until then, for all of us from Paradise, I'm Kevin O'Connor for "This Old House." What do you say we get back to the party?

All cheering

Kevin

Alright! Let's go! Let's go! Next time on "This Old House," we start a brand-new project in a town that started a revolution.

This house was built in 1880 here in Concord, Massachusetts, and it's just down the road from the site of the first shot of the American Revolution. After many sloppy renovations, a young couple from the city would like it restored the right way. We've got just the team for the job. There it is.