In this program, we will examine the wisdom of rebuilding towns at the edge of the wilderness as wildfires now have no seasons. The controversy around the rebuilding of the town of Paradise, California raises questions of home, community, as well as equity. We will discuss who gets to say which and how towns get rebuilt, and for whom. After the state of California spent close to $2 billion on the Camp Fire clean-up, is Paradise safer from future wildfires? Are there wildfire management strategies we can learn from our Native Californians, the original stewards of this land?
Photo: National Geographic
Panelists
Fay Darmawi (Moderator)
Founder and Executive Director, SF Urban Film Fest
Ron W. Goode
Tribal Chairman of the North Fork Mono Tribe, Educator
Sarah Karlinsky
Senior Advisor, SPUR
Xan Parker
Producer, Rebuilding Paradise
Kevin Phillips
Paradise Town Manager
Films
Rebuilding Paradise
USA | 2020 | 91 mins. | Directed by Ron Howard
On the morning of Nov. 8, 2018, a spark from a transmission line in Northern California, coupled with climate-impacted conditions, quickly grew into a devastating firestorm that engulfed the picturesque city of Paradise, California. By the time the Camp Fire was extinguished, it had killed 85 people, displaced 50,000 residents and destroyed 95% of local structures. It was the deadliest U.S. fire in 100 years — and the worst ever in California’s history. As residents faced the damage to their lives, to their homes and to more than 150,000 acres in and around their 141-year-old town, they did something amazing: They worked together to heal. From the moment the crisis began, Oscar-winning director RON HOWARD led a filmmaking team to the city and would go on to spend a year with Paradise residents, documenting their efforts to recover what was lost.
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