Kostiantyn Nikitchenko (right), a Ukrainian refugee, joined his friend Douglas Brake, from Pennsylvania to volunteer for a week in Paradise.
Trauma, toughness, and joy
Paradise is full of twists and turns. Paradise, California, that is. To reach one of the new homes they are building, MDS volunteers must navigate miles of canyon roads full of hairpin turns—without the security of guardrails. The drive takes patience, as do many aspects of working in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. “They’re going to have fun getting a refrigerator down in here,” mused MDS Project Director Don Lichti with a wry smile, standing at the bottom of a canyon near a home under construction.
More than three-and-a-half years after the Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed 18,000 structures in Paradise and surrounding areas, the grim burnt skeletons of large trees still loom over the mountainside—but green undergrowth and colorful wildflowers have returned. “At first glance, it may not look like a burned-out place because the green is here, but if you look carefully you’ll see driveway after driveway—without houses,” said Lichti. The residents who are trying to rebuild Paradise all know someone who didn’t make it out. They share their own traumatic stories with MDS volunteers. The sunny morning of Nov. 8. 2018, turned so dark with smoke and ash that nobody could see more than a foot in any direction. A nurse had to leave her car in flames, and blindly run—until by some miracle her hand hit the back of a fire truck. Another couple led their horses to a pond, hoping they’d survive. One young woman was able to leave only a two-word voice message—“Grammy, fire”—before the cell towers went down. As MDS Crew Leader Laverne Delp meets local residents
Volunteers are up to the challenge of getting wildfire survivors in rugged Paradise, California, back home after years of waiting
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behind the hammer
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