Earlier this year, wildfires raged through huge portions of California, claiming homes, businesses, and lives in the process. Those fires were eventually contained, but a new inferno which sparked up in Plumas National Forest this week has devastated tens of thousands of acres already, and it’s turned the town of Paradise, California, into a hellscape.
In a video posted to Facebook by a resident, the blaze can be seen destroying everything in its path. No tree or structure appears to be spared, but the driver and passengers manage to escape successfully.
“I feel very vulnerable posting this but I feel I should,” Brynn Chatfield, the Facebook poster, explains in the video’s description. “My hometown of Paradise is on fire. My family is evacuated and safe. Not all my friends are safe. It’s very surreal. Things always work out, but the unknown is a little scary.”
California has declared a state of emergency due to the Camp Fire’s spread. It’s currently completely out of control, spreading at will with no containment. For a bit of perspective on how fast this fire is moving, CNN notes that it’s burning the equivalent of 80 football fields every minute. It’s a real monster.
