Next month, the Northern California community of Paradise will commemorate a somber anniversary: On Nov. 8, 2018, the town burned to the ground. Nearly 11,000 properties were erased in the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in state history, which took 85 lives.
Now, as California braces for peak fire season, the most extensive post-fire cleanup it has ever taken on is nearly complete. Crews have hauled off more than 3.6 million tons of debris — twice what was removed from the World Trade Center site after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City. But the danger was not extinguished when the last flame was doused. After the Camp Fire burned through the town along a wooded ridge, it left behind a blight on the environment: a tainted water supply, unhealthful air and soil that contains heavy metals or toxic chemicals. The city still advises residents not to drink tap water.