Lessons from Paradise on Fire

A vintage pickup destroyed by the Camp Fire, on display outside a newly built single family home in Paradise.

一辆被营火烧毁的老式皮卡，陈列在天堂一栋新建的独户住宅外。

[All photographs by J.

[所有照片均由 J.

Matt/ZUMA Press , 2023] In 2019, I labored through what was then the single most difficult workday of my life — and I am someone who made a living excavating broken sewers with a pick and shovel.

Matt/ZUMA Press，2023] 2019 年，我度过了当时我一生中最困难的工作日——我靠用镐和铲子挖掘破损的下水道为生。

(After the Loma Prieta earthquake, in San Francisco, in 1989.) At the end of January 2019, I traveled around the town of Paradise, making photographs and researching the consequences of the Camp Fire, California’s deadliest wildfire to date.

（1989 年旧金山洛马普列塔地震后。）2019 年 1 月末，我在天堂镇周围旅行，拍摄照片并研究坎普大火（加州迄今为止最致命的野火）的后果。

It was two months after the conflagration had at last been designated fully contained.

两个月后，大火最终被确定完全得到控制。

Large fires that burn into developed areas are often described by those who experience the inferno or its aftermath as looking “like war zones.” Yet most war zones are bigger and more devastating than even the 5,636 buildings lost in the Tubbs Fire in 2017 — which, until the Camp Fire, was the most destructive in California history.

那些经历过地狱或其后果的人经常将烧毁到发达地区的大火描述为“像战区”。然而，大多数战区的规模和破坏性甚至比 2017 年塔布斯火灾中烧毁的 5,636 座建筑还要大——在坎普火灾之前，这场火灾是加州历史上最具破坏性的火灾。

1 Paradise grimly earned the analogy to a wartime scale.

1 天堂残酷地被比喻为战时规模。

The fire lasted eighteen days; 85 people were killed, and the town lost 18,804 structures — 85 percent of its buildings.

大火持续了十八天； 85 人死亡，该镇损失了 18,804 座建筑——占其建筑总量的 85%。

The conflagration damaged 754 structures it did not totally destroy, and even in buildings that did not burn, it was often necessary to remediate interior smoke exposure.

大火损坏了 754 座建筑物，但并未完全烧毁，即使在未燃烧的建筑物中，通常也需要修复内部烟雾暴露。

2 The disaster’s scale and scope obligated the National Institute of Standards and Technology to parcel out its forensic accounting across fifteen “focus regions,” spanning from the fire’s origin point, barely six miles from downtown Paradise, to the outskirts of the university town of Chico, over a dozen miles from the ignition site.

2 这场灾难的规模和范围迫使美国国家标准与技术研究院将其法证核算分摊到 15 个“重点区域”，范围从距离天堂市中心仅六英里的起火点，到距离起火地点十几英里的奇科大学城郊区。

The burn zone constituted 153,336 acres (nearly 240 square miles).

燃烧区域面积为 153,336 英亩（近 240 平方英里）。

By comparison, the city of San Francisco comprises 30,016 acres.

相比之下，旧金山市占地 30,016 英亩。

The remediated site of a destroyed single family home.

被毁坏的单户住宅的修复地点。

Evidence of the fire remains visible through out the town.

整个城镇都清晰可见起火的痕迹。

At 6:25 am on November 8, 2018, no more than ten minutes after ignition beneath a PG&E high-voltage transmission tower, a 911 caller reported a fire in conifer woodland not far from the Jarbo Gap and the North Fork of the Feather River, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

2018 年 11 月 8 日早上 6 点 25 分，距离 PG&E 高压输电塔下方着火不到 10 分钟，一名 911 报警人报告称，内华达山脉山麓距离贾博峡 (Jarbo Gap) 和羽毛河北叉不远的针叶林中发生火灾。

At 6:45 am, the first firefighter to assess the situation found a well-established, inaccessible fire with sustained winds blowing 35 miles per hour.

早上 6 点 45 分，第一名评估情况的消防员发现火势已定，无法扑救，且持续风速为 35 英里/小时。

At this point, according to a case study published by NIST in 2021, the fire captain declared the “potential for a major incident.” 3

根据 NIST 2021 年发布的案例研究，此时消防队长宣称“有可能发生重大事件”。 3

A mile-wide wall of flame reached Paradise two hours later, casting firebrands ahead of it.

两小时后，一英里宽的火墙到达了天堂，在它前面投下了火把。

Here the Camp Fire departed the wildland-urban interface — the WUI (pronounced “woo-ee”) — and became an urban firestorm.

在这里，营火离开了荒地与城市的界面——WUI（发音为“woo-ee”）——并成为一场城市大火。

4 At times, it moved at a rate equivalent to the area of a football field per second .

4 有时，它的移动速度相当于每秒一个足球场的面积。

Trees fell and blocked escape routes, as did utility poles.

树木倒下并堵塞了逃生路线，电线杆也是如此。

Vehicles jammed roads as the fire burned over them.

大火烧毁了车辆，导致道路堵塞。

Evacuees drove through heat and flames that shattered car windows and melted tires, plastic and rubber trims, door handles.

撤离人员开车穿过高温和火焰，车窗被震碎，轮胎、塑料和橡胶装饰件、门把手都被融化。

At Adventist Feather River Hospital, a heroic staff evacuated patients from rooms, intensive-care wards, and surgical theaters as the fire burned into the hospital’s campus.

在基督复临安息日会羽毛河医院，当大火烧毁医院园区时，英勇的工作人员从房间、重症监护病房和手术室疏散了病人。

I’d been in Paradise before that 2019 visit.

2019 年那次访问之前我就去过天堂。

I’ve travelled quite a bit in the Sierra Nevada generally, and have grown used to the geographic consistency of this seismically unstable cleft in the continental plate, its visual rhythm.

我在内华达山脉旅行过很多次，并且已经习惯了大陆板块中这个地震不稳定裂缝的地理一致性及其视觉节奏。

I thought I knew the terrain, but driving around that January day unnerved me.

我以为我了解地形，但一月的那天开车让我感到不安。

The trees that had defined the town and neighboring ridge communities were gone.

定义城镇和邻近山脊社区的树木都消失了。

(I was told more than once during my return trip that Paradise had become a place to view previously hidden sunsets.) I walked through decimated lots, and the barely recognizable remains of structures waiting to be remediated: houses, apartment complexes, stores, offices, churches, schools, trailer parks.

（在回程中我不止一次被告知，天堂已经成为观看以前隐藏的日落的地方。）我走过被毁坏的土地，以及等待修复的几乎无法辨认的建筑遗迹：房屋、公寓大楼、商店、办公室、教堂、学校、拖车公园。

Describe a building type: I probably had its ash on my boots.

描述一种建筑类型：我的靴子上可能沾有它的灰烬。

These were the ashes, of course, of peoples’ lives.

当然，这些都是人们生命的灰烬。

A crisis prevention hotline is publicized at the Butte Creek Canyon Watershed Overlook in Paradise.

天堂州巴特溪峡谷分水岭观景台设有危机预防热线。

To spend time on the ground of what fire services call an “incident” is to travel in a landscape that sears the imagination.

在消防部门所谓的“事故”现场度过一段时间，就像在一个令人难以想象的风景中旅行。

Everywhere the ordinary has turned macabre: hearths and chimneys stand alone, disassociated from their homes; cars, bicycles, metal shelving, and appliances have melted into grotesqueries.

到处都变得令人毛骨悚然：壁炉和烟囱孤零零地矗立着，与家园脱离了联系；汽车、自行车、金属架子和电器都变得奇形怪状。

A witness to an incident that crosses the WUI is compelled to contemplate death by incineration — in their waking hours, and in their dreams.

西印度群岛地区发生的一起事件的目击者被迫在清醒时和梦中思考焚烧致死的情况。

Such firestorms in populated areas have been relatively rare in living memory — albeit made frighteningly vivid by the Tunnel Fire, which burned in the Oakland and Berkeley hills in 1991, killing 25 people and destroying more than 3,400 homes.

在人们的记忆中，人口稠密地区发生的此类火灾相对罕见，尽管 1991 年在奥克兰和伯克利山发生的隧道火灾让这种火灾变得栩栩如生，造成 25 人死亡，3,400 多所房屋被毁。

5 In the coming years and decades, however, the combination of global warming and worldwide encroachment into the WUI will ignite such holocausts with increasing frequency.

5 然而，在未来几年和几十年里，全球变暖和世界范围内对 WUI 的侵犯将越来越频繁地引发此类大屠杀。

Last summer, a stunning set of facts was quietly reported in an academic paper: “We found that the total global WUI area in 2020 was 6.3 million km 2 or 4.7 percent of global land area, which is an order of magnitude larger than the global urban area or twice the size of India.” 6 As I was writing this, fires burning through the WUI in Chile were on pace to become the country’s “deadliest on record.” 7 As my editor and I worked on revisions, the Smokehouse Creek Fire in the Texas Panhandle burned 1.1 million acres and severed all escape routes from the town of Canadian.

去年夏天，一篇学术论文悄然报道了一组令人震惊的事实：“我们发现，2020年全球WUI总面积为630万平方公里，占全球陆地面积的4.7%，比全球城市面积大一个数量级，是印度面积的两倍。” 6 在我撰写本文时，智利 WUI 的火灾即将成为该国“有记录以来最致命的火灾”。 7 当我和我的编辑进行修订时，德克萨斯州狭长地带的 Smokehouse Creek 火灾烧毁了 110 万英亩土地，并切断了 Canadian 镇的所有逃生路线。

8

8

In my home islands of Hawai‘i, we have Lāhainā to reckon with.

在我的家乡夏威夷，我们有拉海纳 (Lāhainā)。

In August 2023, after fire decimated this historic town on Maui, the Camp Fire’s status as “deadliest ever” was surpassed.

2023 年 8 月，大火摧毁了毛伊岛这座历史悠久的小镇，营地大火“史上最致命”的地位被超越。

An estimated 2,207 structures and 2,170 acres in Lāhainā burned.

拉海纳估计有 2,207 座建筑物和 2,170 英亩土地被烧毁。

9 One hundred and one people have been confirmed dead; two remain unaccounted for.

9 已确认101人死亡；其中两人下落不明。

10 My hardest days at work, now, have been there.

10 现在，我工作中最艰难的日子已经过去了。

Despite the attempt that follows, I know from experience that the dimensions of loss in the two most destructive firestorms in the United States in the last century are impossible to report fully — whether with my camera or in my prose.

尽管做出了随后的尝试，但我从经验中知道，无论是用我的相机还是在我的散文中，都不可能完整地报告上个世纪美国两场最具破坏性的火灾风暴所造成的损失。

Five years have passed since Paradise and the unincorporated communities of Concow, Magalia, and Butte Creek Canyon were immolated.

自从天堂和康考、马加利亚和巴特溪峡谷等非法人社区被自焚以来，已经过去五年了。

I had long planned to return for this anniversary, and Lāhainā made it imperative.

我早就计划回来庆祝这个周年纪念日，拉海纳强制要求我这么做。

Paradesians (for this is what they call themselves) have lessons to teach.

帕拉迪斯教徒（他们自称是这样）有教训要教。

What would Paradise reveal, to Lāhainā — and to all of us with catastrophes fueled by global warming on our minds and in our futures?

天堂将向拉海纳以及我们所有人揭示什么，因为全球变暖引发的灾难在我们的思想和未来中？

Counterintuitively, the first revelation was cheer .

与直觉相反，第一个启示是欢呼。

The town, in my eight days there, was grappling with nearly inconceivable bereavement and sadness.

在我在那里的八天里，这座小镇正在与几乎难以想象的丧亲和悲伤作斗争。

The landscape is still gridded with rectangles of iron-oxide-red dirt, where volcanic-soil fill marks the locations of razed buildings.

地貌仍然布满了矩形的氧化铁红泥土，火山土壤填充物标志着被夷为平地的建筑物的位置。

But good spirits, solidarity, and welcome were abundant, even when accompanied by tears.

但即使伴随着泪水，良好的精神、团结和欢迎仍然是充沛的。

I witnessed the badgering of a state assemblyman for yet another infusion of state money, this time to repair damage to municipal infrastructure caused by heavy equipment remediating the area — a veritable army traveling roads and collapsing storm drains.

我亲眼目睹了一位州议员纠缠着再次注入国家资金，这次是为了修复因修复该地区的重型设备而造成的市政基础设施损坏——一支名副其实的军队在道路上行驶和崩塌的雨水渠。

The prodding was accompanied by genuine smiles and comic repartee on both sides.

双方的刺激都伴随着真诚的微笑和滑稽的妙语连珠。

Granted, these residents were a self-selected bunch; out-migration saw a predictably significant increase in the two years after the fire.

诚然，这些居民是一群自我选择的人。不出所料，火灾发生后的两年里，向外迁移的人数显着增加。

Those lacking the social ties or means to aid their return did not come back.

那些缺乏社会联系或帮助返回的手段的人没有回来。

But, surprisingly, the fire has exerted no statistically significant effect on rates of in-migration.

但令人惊讶的是，火灾对移民率没有产生统计上显着的影响。

11 Paradise has been the fastest growing town in California for two years running.

11 帕拉代斯已连续两年成为加州发展最快的城镇。

12 Paradesians I met want to be there.

我遇到的 12 位帕拉迪斯人都想去那里。

The time capsule’s plaque.

时间胶囊的牌匾。

Strangers waved at me.

陌生人向我挥手。

People often knew who I was before I introduced myself — at least insofar as I was “the reporter from Hawai‘i.” As such I heard, as a constant refrain, that people on Maui can’t possibly understand how hard it will be to get back on their feet.

人们常常在我自我介绍之前就知道我是谁——至少就我是“来自夏威夷的记者”而言。因此，我经常听到毛伊岛的人们无法理解重新站起来有多么困难。

I know this to be true, although it hurt to hear it spoken by those with the authority to judge.

我知道这是真的，尽管听到那些有判断权的人说出这句话很伤人。

Reporting the ongoing progress of recovery from a horrifying compound disaster nonetheless proved to be enjoyable in ways that I had not anticipated.

尽管如此，报告从一场可怕的复合灾难中恢复的进展仍然是令人愉快的，这是我没有预料到的。

This was so even as Paradise’s future remains — and Paradisians are candid about this — uncertain.

即使天堂的未来仍然不确定（天堂人对此很坦率），情况也是如此。

A definition is useful here: a disaster counts as “compound” when it results from multiple extreme pressures, be those environmental events or influences, or failures of planning or policy.

这里有一个有用的定义：当灾难是由多种极端压力（无论是环境事件或影响，还是规划或政策的失败）引起时，它就被视为“复合灾难”。

Think flooding compounded by the rising sea levels that global warming precipitates; escalating heatwaves coming on top of droughts and affecting food supplies; hurricanes juiced, and slowed or stalled, by rising ocean temperatures.

想想全球变暖导致的海平面上升加剧的洪水；干旱之后热浪不断升级，影响粮食供应；由于海洋温度上升，飓风变得更加猛烈、减缓或停滞。

Those responsible for remaking Paradise are, to their credit, seeking to work across the Camp Fire’s compounding factors.

值得称赞的是，那些负责重建天堂的人正在寻求克服营火的复杂因素。

They are addressing the complex, climate-sensitive conditions faced by every municipality today.

他们正在解决当今每个城市面临的复杂的气候敏感条件。

I must be clear, after these examples, that the Camp Fire was not a result of global warming.

在这些例子之后，我必须明确，营火并不是全球变暖的结果。

When I met the acting mayor of Paradise, Greg Bolin, I described my beat as a journalist in large part covering the climate crisis and the environment.

当我见到天堂市代理市长格雷格·博林时，我描述了我作为一名记者的经历，主要报道气候危机和环境问题。

He told me that he hoped I wouldn’t be reporting that “climate change caused” the fire, because “the climate was always changing.”

他告诉我，他希望我不要报道“气候变化导致”火灾，因为“气候总是在变化”。

I responded that Pacific Gas & Electric caused the Camp Fire by failing to maintain its lines.

我回答说，太平洋天然气和电力公司因未能维护线路而引发了营火。

This negligence, I added, was not unrelated to the 2010 explosion in a residential neighborhood in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco, when a 30-inch PG&E gas main exploded, killing eight and sending a fireball 1,000 feet into the air.

我补充说，这一疏忽与 2010 年旧金山南部圣布鲁诺住宅区发生的爆炸不无关系，当时一根 30 英寸的 PG&E 燃气总管爆炸，造成 8 人死亡，并将火球抛向 1,000 英尺高空。

13 But, I insisted, while PG&E’s equipment failure had sparked the Camp Fire, the ignition and behavior of the blaze were affected by conditions marked with global warming’s imprint: the consequences of the state’s longest ever-recorded drought, including an abundance of unusually dry vegetation, compounded by an unusual late-season wind event.

13 但是，我坚持认为，虽然 PG&E 的设备故障引发了营火，但火灾的点火和行为受到了带有全球变暖印记的条件的影响：该州有记录以来最长的干旱的后果，包括大量异常干燥的植被，再加上一场不寻常的晚季大风事件。

This, I said, was a global warming- intensified fire.

我说，这是一场加剧全球变暖的火灾。

The Camp Fire Resource Center in Magalia, about five miles from Paradise, remains open five years after the Camp Fire burned through the area.

位于马加利亚的营火资源中心距离天堂约五英里，在营火烧毁该地区五年后仍然开放。

For a moment, Bolin looked up into the volume of space in the church gymnasium where he’d just eaten a memorial roast chicken dinner, and listened as his brother, a pastor at Paradise Alliance Church, delivered a sermon of remembrance.

有那么一会儿，博林抬头看着教堂体育馆里的空间，他刚刚在那里吃了一顿纪念烤鸡晚餐，听着他的兄弟，天堂联盟教堂的牧师，发表了纪念布道。

Then the mayor and I sat down.

然后我和市长坐下来。

A frank conversation followed about the fire, Paradise’s recovery, and lessons to be drawn from the experience.

接下来，我们就火灾、天堂的恢复以及从这次经历中吸取的教训进行了坦诚的交谈。

On November 8, 2018, California was in the grip of an extraordinary drought, which began in 2000 and would last until 2023; by the day of the fire, the area had experienced “over 200 days with almost no precipitation.” 14 The brutal dry spell killed as many as 100 million trees statewide, with even live plants primed to burn, their moisture content having fallen below critical fire-hazard levels.

2018 年 11 月 8 日，加利福尼亚州遭遇了一场自 2000 年开始、一直持续到 2023 年的特大干旱；到火灾发生当天，该地区已经经历了“200多天几乎没有降水”。 14 严酷的干旱期导致全州多达 1 亿棵树死亡，甚至连活的植物也即将燃烧，其含水量已降至临界火灾危险水平以下。

This drought cycle was more severe than any detectible in the soil-moisture record since the period between 1571 and 1593, a generation or two after the fall of the Aztec Empire.

自 1571 年至 1593 年（阿兹特克帝国灭亡后一两代人）以来，这一干旱周期比土壤湿度记录中可检测到的任何情况都要严重。

15 In February 2022, the lead author of the study that determined this, geographer Park Williams, told the San Jose Mercury News , “We are 22 years into a bad drought, and because of climate change we are now surpassing the severity of megadroughts that have always been thought of as the worst-case scenarios.” 16 The very idea of a 100-year-event is stripped of meaning in our present context.

15 2022 年 2 月，确定这一点的研究的主要作者、地理学家帕克·威廉姆斯 (Park Williams) 告诉《圣何塞水星报》，“我们已经经历了 22 年的严重干旱，由于气候变化，我们现在已经超过了特大干旱的严重程度，而特大干旱一直被认为是最坏的情况。” 16 在我们当前的背景下，“100 年事件”这一概念本身就失去了意义。

Windspeed on that November day achieved more than 50 miles per hour.

11 月的那天，风速达到每小时 50 英里以上。

But this was not unusual at the fire’s ignition site beneath PG&E’s high-voltage towers near the Jarbo Gap.

但在 Jarbo Gap 附近 PG&E 高压塔下方的起火地点，这种情况并不罕见。

The air’s relative dryness was more or less normal too; Californians are well acquainted with the seasonal Diablo or Santa Ana winds that drive dry, warm air from inland deserts through the mountains.

空气的相对干燥程度也或多或少是正常的。加州人非常熟悉季节性的暗黑破坏神风或圣安娜风，这些风将干燥温暖的空气从内陆沙漠吹过山区。

What made circumstances notable was the confluence of dry conditions, so late in the year, with a relatively ordinary stiff north wind.

值得注意的是，今年晚些时候天气干燥，但伴随着相对普通的强劲北风。

By this point in autumn, according to the historical record, it should have been raining in the Sierra foothills.

秋天这个时候，根据历史记载，塞拉山麓应该已经下雨了。

But it wasn’t.

但事实并非如此。

These deviations from established patterns on the day of ignition met other conditions that allowed the fire, once lit, to behave as it did.

这些与点火当天既定模式的偏差满足了其他条件，使得火一旦点燃，就会像原来那样表现出来。

Notably, the towns of Paradise and Magalia had lived more than a century without ecologically ordinary wildfire.

值得注意的是，天堂镇和马加利亚镇已经有一个多世纪没有发生过生态上普通的野火了。

The Gold Rush of the late 1840s and early 1850s drew fortune hunters into the homelands of as many as 9,500 Maidu people in this region.

1840 年代末和 1850 年代初的淘金热吸引了寻宝者来到该地区多达 9,500 名迈杜人的家乡。

After gold speculation died out, agriculture and forestry took over, and settlers brought with them the intent and the ability to suppress fire, an idea antithetical to Indigenous land managers.

黄金投机消亡后，农业和林业接管了，定居者带来了扑灭火灾的意图和能力，这种想法与土著土地管理者相反。

Farms and lumber mills are not worked by those who want to expose their homes or livelihoods to incineration.

农场和木材厂不适合那些想要将自己的房屋或生计付之一炬的人。

This lack of fire, across generations, allowed for vegetation densities that far exceeded those of fire-healthy forestland.

由于几代人都没有火灾，植被密度远远超过了防火林地的密度。

Such density has another name: fuel.

这种密度还有另一个名字：燃料。

There were also the bark beetles.

还有树皮甲虫。

By 2016, the presence of bark beetles in California’s conifer forests was well known.

到 2016 年，加州针叶林中存在树皮甲虫已广为人知。

Bark beetles prey on sick or damaged trees, helping to maintain healthy tree-to-area ratios, and they have historically been kept in check by altitude and cold winters.

树皮甲虫捕食生病或受损的树木，有助于维持健康的树木与面积的比例，而且历史上它们一直受到海拔高度和寒冷冬季的抑制。

As the climate heats and warm winters creep upslope into subalpine forests, the beetles travel uphill too, and their populations explode.

随着气候变暖和暖冬爬上亚高山森林，甲虫也爬上山，它们的数量激增。

17 In autumn 2018, stands of trees were dying up the ridge from Paradise.

17 2018 年秋天，天堂山脊上的树木正在枯死。

More fuel.

更多燃料。

Lastly, in this list of factors compounding the Camp Fire, add the exigencies of the WUI itself.

最后，在加剧营火的因素列表中，添加了 WUI 本身的紧急情况。

Such contact zones are defined by a variety of methods, but under Department of Agriculture and Interior standards set in 2001, Paradise and its outlying settlements qualified as interface communities.

这种接触区有多种定义方法，但根据农业部和内政部 2001 年制定的标准，天堂及其外围定居点符合界面社区的资格。

In 1850, the census recorded 3,574 people living in Butte County.

1850 年的人口普查显示，巴特县有 3,574 人居住。

In 1950, that number had grown to 64,930.

1950 年，这一数字已增至 64,930 人。

The last census, in 2020, reported Butte County as home to 211,632 inhabitants.

2020 年的上次人口普查显示，巴特县有 211,632 名居民。

Butte County is, effectively , a vast patchwork of WUI .

实际上，巴特县是 WUI 的一个巨大拼凑体。

Much of Paradise was built within ordinary suburban-site parameters, with setbacks between buildings of between ten and 25 feet; in the decades before the fire, the addition of several mobile home parks with direct wildland exposure only increased the town’s vulnerability.

天堂的大部分建筑都是按照普通郊区场地参数建造的，建筑物之间的退缩在 10 到 25 英尺之间；在火灾发生前的几十年里，增加了几个直接暴露在荒地中的移动房屋公园，只会增加该镇的脆弱性。

Lots were dotted with tall conifers and strewn with “pine straw” — mounds of dry needles that accumulated ankle deep.

许多地方都点缀着高大的针叶树，并撒满了“松草”——堆积如山的干针，深达脚踝。

Clumps of pine straw stick together even aflame, and are lightweight enough to become easily airborne.

成团的松草即使着火也会粘在一起，而且重量轻，很容易在空中飘浮。

In quantities, this material is the devil’s own firebrand.

从数量上来说，这种材料就是魔鬼自己的火把。

A model of a fire-resistant building vent, along with preparedness literature and Covid-19 tests available at the Building Resilience Center in Paradise.

天堂建筑抗灾中心提供防火建筑通风口模型，以及准备文献和 Covid-19 测试。

Even with so many troublesome variables, however, Paradise was not unprepared for fire in the WUI.

然而，尽管有这么多麻烦的变数，Paradise 并没有对 WUI 的火灾做好准备。

Butte County’s assessments of fire danger had designated the town a “Community at Risk” since 2001, a finding reiterated in a state document titled “2015-2020 Butte County Fire Protection Plan” prepared by Cal Fire and contributing agencies.

自 2001 年以来，巴特县的火灾危险评估已将该镇指定为“危险社区”，加州消防局和相关机构编写的题为“2015-2020 年巴特县消防计划”的州文件重申了这一发现。

The plan described danger posed by fuel burdens in the WUI and in the town itself, and cited evacuation and emergency access by road as issues of “real concern”; it noted the likelihood that fire control in the area might become “impossible …

该计划描述了 WUI 和城镇本身的燃料负担造成的危险，并将疏散和道路紧急通道列为“真正令人担忧”的问题；它指出该地区的火力控制可能变得“不可能......

for safety reasons.” 18 Local officials understood that a fire in Paradise might become too deadly for fire services to face.

出于安全考虑。” 18 当地官员明白，天堂的火灾可能会导致消防部门无法应对。

The town had established a robust phased evacuation plan in 1998; by 2018, this local plan was in its fifth revision.

该镇于 1998 年制定了强有力的分阶段疏散计划；截至2018年，该地方规划已进行第五次修订。

In response to the 2001 Cal Fire document, Paradise had repaved several miles of its main artery, Skyway Road.

为了响应 2001 年加州消防局的文件，Paradise 重新铺设了其主干道 Skyway 路数英里。

Recognizing that the population had grown too large to evacuate at once even on the upgraded Skyway, the town’s plan divided Paradise into fourteen evacuation zones and its surrounding areas into thirteen more.

认识到人口增长过多，即使在升级后的高架公路上也无法立即疏散，该镇的计划将天堂划分为十四个疏散区，并将其周边地区划分为十三个疏散区。

The locations of traffic signals, personnel to direct traffic, storage sites for traffic cones and barricades, and the staging of tow trucks were noted.

交通信号的位置、指挥交通的人员、交通锥和路障的存放地点以及拖车的停靠位置都被记录下来。

Emergency response agencies throughout the area trained using the town’s plan; fire services, paramedics, public-works personnel, and police knew their roles.

整个地区的应急响应机构都根据该镇的计划进行了培训；消防部门、护理人员、公共工程人员和警察都知道自己的角色。

The town had created an opt-in reverse-911 notification system.

该镇创建了一个可选择加入的反向 911 通知系统。

In 2016, the area’s first responders had participated in a more than fourteen-hour multi-agency WUI fire drill.

2016 年，该地区的第一批响应人员参加了为期 14 个多小时的多机构 WUI 消防演习。

NIST described this complex drill as having been modeled in part on lessons from the Humboldt Fire, which took place in Butte County in 2008, regarding traffic congestion and evacuation.

NIST 称，这次复杂的演习在一定程度上是根据 2008 年巴特县发生的洪堡火灾中有关交通拥堵和疏散的教训进行建模的。

19 So there was precedent, and training had assimilated that precedent.

19 因此，这是有先例的，并且培训已经吸收了该先例。

A week before the fire, Paradise Public Works had undertaken a road sweep to remove pine straw and other combustibles.

火灾发生前一周，天堂公共工程公司进行了道路清扫，清除松木秸秆和其他可燃物。

The day before the fire, the agency had replaced the backup batteries in its communications towers.

火灾前一天，该机构更换了通信塔中的备用电池。

A visitor to Table Mountain Masonic Lodge No. 124 reads an epic poem containing tributes to each of the Camp Fire’s 85 victims.

桌山共济会 124 号小屋的一名游客朗读了一首史诗，其中向营火中的 85 名遇难者致以哀悼。

By any comparative metric, the town had done almost everything right, relative to contemporary disaster-planning standards.

从任何比较标准来看，相对于当代的灾难规划标准，该镇几乎所有事情都做得正确。

It was well prepared for a slow-moving fire, or for a hot, aerial fire that remained localized.

它已经为缓慢移动的火灾或局部的高温空中火灾做好了充分准备。

But these were not the fires Paradise got.

但这些并不是天堂所遭遇的火灾。

Because of this, the “2015–2020 Butte County Fire Protection Plan” failed, spectacularly.

正因为如此，“2015-2020年巴特县消防计划”惨遭失败。

Paradesians tell us that their experience will not be unique, and Lāhainā proves they are right.

帕拉迪斯人告诉我们，他们的经历不会是独一无二的，拉海纳证明他们是对的。

Paradesians are here to show us that we have much to learn from their experience — and they are eager to share the information they have so painfully acquired.

Paradesians 来这里是为了向我们展示，我们可以从他们的经历中学习很多东西，而且他们渴望分享他们痛苦地获得的信息。

It is our duty to try to learn what they are teaching.

我们有责任尝试学习他们所教的内容。

Housed in a 1904 rail terminal, the Paradise Depot Museum was the first stop on my recent visit, and conversation with docents Donna and Phoebe quickly turned to Maui.

天堂车站博物馆 (Paradise Depot Museum) 位于一座 1904 年的火车站内，是我最近访问的第一站，与讲解员唐娜 (Donna) 和菲比 (Phoebe) 的谈话很快就转向了毛伊岛。

“It’s gonna take a long time,” Donna said gravely, her compassion palpable.

“这需要很长时间，”唐娜严肃地说，她的同情心显而易见。

She then led me to the C-hook, the actual hook, that failed at 6:15 am on PG&E’s steel transmission tower No. 27-222, installed in 1909, causing a 115,000-volt line to arc and spark the blaze.

然后她带我到了 PG&E 1909 年安装的 27-222 号钢制输电塔上的 C 形挂钩，也就是真正的挂钩，该挂钩于早上 6 点 15 分发生故障，导致 115,000 伏线路产生电弧并引发火灾。

20 We spoke of San Bruno and PG&E’s consistent, well-attested choice to prioritize profit over infrastructural maintenance, public safety, or good corporate governance.

20 我们谈到了圣布鲁诺和 PG&E 一贯的、经过充分证明的选择，即优先考虑利润而不是基础设施维护、公共安全或良好的公司治理。

“We can’t stop the corporations doing what they’re going to do,” said Donna — depressing, unassailable American civic wisdom.

“我们无法阻止企业做他们要做的事，”唐娜说——这是令人沮丧的、无可争议的美国公民智慧。

The forged steel hook (at left) that failed on PG&E transmission tower No. 27-222, igniting Camp Fire on the morning of November 8, 2018.

2018 年 11 月 8 日上午，PG&E 27-222 号输电塔上的锻钢吊钩（左）发生故障，引发营火。

It is now on display, beside a sample hook, at the Paradise Depot Museum.

它现在在天堂仓库博物馆的样品钩旁边展出。

As recovery began after the fire, the flow of information and understanding between federal agencies and the town’s brass and first responders, most of whom had suffered losses, moved in both directions.

随着火灾后恢复工作的开始，联邦机构与该镇的高层和急救人员（其中大多数人都遭受了损失）之间的信息和理解的流动是双向的。

In particular, local leaders (Bolin was vice-mayor at the time) took to heart advice that FEMA personnel gave early on: get schools, churches, and businesses open as fast as possible.

特别是，当地领导人（博林当时是副市长）牢记了联邦应急管理局人员早期提出的建议：尽快开放学校、教堂和企业。

With the fervor of the converted, Mayor Bolin told me that, even five years out, this remained “absolutely true”; community, he emphasized, must be “the center” of any recovery.

博林市长带着皈依者的热情告诉我，即使五年后，这仍然“绝对正确”；他强调，社区必须成为任何复苏的“中心”。

I underlined the words in my notebook.

我在笔记本上划下了这句话。

Then I asked about long-term prospects.

然后我问了长期前景。

Did he think the town could develop the tax base to be self-sustaining again?

他是否认为该镇可以发展税基以再次自给自足？

Bolin was candid; Paradise is not there yet.

博林很坦诚；天堂还没有到来。

There was no industry to speak of prior to the fire, so none would return.

火灾发生前没有任何工业可言，因此没有人会回来。

Private property surrounds the town, limiting wildland access and making it difficult to imagine a new tourist industry premised on the area’s natural beauty.

城镇周围都是私人财产，限制了进入荒地的机会，也很难想象以该地区的自然美景为基础的新旅游业。

It’s an unlikely spot for business development that isn’t local or underpinned by remote work.

对于非本地或非远程工作的业务发展来说，这是一个不太可能的地方。

The willingness of Chico residents to see post-fire Paradise as a bedroom community remains untested at any scale.

奇科居民将火灾后的天堂视为卧室社区的意愿尚未经过任何规模的考验。

The mayor talked about his hopes for a trust to be funded, in part, by PG&E settlement money, to keep the municipal lights on until 2045 — by which time he hopes the town’s economy will be stable.

市长谈到，他希望建立一个信托基金，部分资金来自 PG&E 和解金，以使市政照明保持到 2045 年——到那时，他希望该镇的经济能够稳定。

Bolin revealed a profound humility speaking about leading Paradise out of the fire.

谈到带领天堂走出火海时，博林流露出深深的谦卑。

He told me that he has lost friends in disagreements over his administration’s vision of recovery.

他告诉我，由于对政府的复苏愿景存在分歧，他失去了朋友。

This plainly hurt him, but neither anxiety nor ruminating on past loss seemed to suit him for long.

这显然伤害了他，但焦虑和反思过去的损失似乎都不适合他太久。

Irrepressibly, his bullishness roared back: “We had 66 applicants for town manager!”

不可抑制地，他的乐观情绪卷土重来：“我们有 66 名镇长应聘者！”

This to manage a town that is, for all intents and purposes, a clean slate, both a dream and a memory.

这是为了管理一个小镇，无论出于何种意图和目的，它都是一张白纸，既是梦想也是记忆。

Cal Fire’s Division Chief of North Operations, Patrick Purvis, is a third-generation wildland firefighter, assigned to his first campaign fire in high school, as a member of the Butte County Fire Explorer Post 414.

加州消防局北部行动分部负责人帕特里克·珀维斯 (Patrick Purvis) 是一名第三代荒地消防员，在高中时作为巴特县消防探险员 414 号的成员被派往参加他的第一次消防行动。

(In a “campaign fire,” response structures are adapted from military hierarchies of command, as well as military protocols for assignment of personnel and materiel.

（在“战役火力”中，响应结构根据军事指挥等级以及人员和物资分配的军事协议进行改编。

21 ) Purvis and I met at Station 81 in Paradise and spoke for nearly an hour, starting with updated evacuation plans, the crux of wildfire response planning in the WUI.

21 ) Purvis 和我在天堂 81 号车站会面，聊了近一个小时，从更新的疏散计划开始，这是 WUI 野火应对计划的关键。

Such planning revolves around complex fire modeling and traffic studies, without which there is no data; without data, funds are not budgeted to expand existing routes, create new ones, or improve alert systems.

此类规划围绕复杂的火灾建模和交通研究，没有这些就没有数据；如果没有数据，就不会预算资金来扩展现有路线、创建新路线或改进警报系统。

The Camp Fire demonstrated to politicians on both sides of the aisle that failing to consider line items for wildfire prevention, alert systems, and evacuation routes risks substantial numbers of dead constituents.

坎普大火向两党政治家表明，如果不考虑野火预防、警报系统和疏散路线等项目，可能会导致大量选民死亡。

State Assemblyman James Gallagher, a Republican, talks like a New-Deal Democrat when it comes to spending state money to prepare for wildfire.

州议员詹姆斯·加拉格尔（James Gallagher）是一名共和党人，在谈到花费州资金来应对野火时，他的言论就像一位支持新政的民主党人。

22

22

Markings noting the location of existing underground utilities in Paradise.

标记说明天堂现有地下公用设施的位置。

As comparatively good as the town’s preparations were prior to the fire — and they were good — emergency notifications in 2018 relied on cell phones and the opt-in registry.

尽管该镇在火灾前的准备工作相对较好——而且做得很好——但 2018 年的紧急通知依赖于手机和选择加入登记。

The data shows, however, that most people had not opted in.

然而，数据显示，大多数人并没有选择加入。

In any case, cellular networks fared poorly in the Camp Fire, as they did in the fire on Maui.

无论如何，蜂窝网络在坎普大火中表现不佳，就像在毛伊岛火灾中一样。

23 In Paradise, 21 sirens are now strategically scattered around town, each with 30 days of backup power and six redundant communications links spanning radio and satellite networks.

23 在天堂，21 个警报器现在战略性地分布在城镇周围，每个警报器都有 30 天的备用电源和跨越无线电和卫星网络的 6 个冗余通信链路。

“We are able to broadcast an alert tone and let [residents] know that evacuations are in progress,” Purvis explained.

“我们能够播放警报音，让[居民]知道疏散正在进行中，”珀维斯解释道。

People can be informed, quickly, “if there’s a specific route they need to take; what zones are under evacuation.”

人们可以很快被告知“是否需要走一条特定路线；哪些区域正在疏散”。

He went on to tell me about a bevy of new programs aimed at fire resilience — Firewise Community initiatives and Firesafe Councils; a Wildfire Resiliency Task Force; public “burn associations” that train local “burn bosses” to manage their own prescribed burns.

他接着告诉我一系列旨在提高防火能力的新计划——Firewise 社区倡议和防火委员会；野火防灾特别工作组；公共“烧伤协会”培训当地“烧伤老板”来管理他们自己规定的烧伤。

We talked about PG&E, and Purvis acknowledged that the company has “been working really hard to go to underground.” Utility undergrounding in fire-prone areas is a must; downed power poles create electrocution hazards, block evacuation routes — and, of course, spark fires.

我们谈到了 PG&E，普维斯承认该公司“一直在努力走向地下”。火灾多发地区必须采用地下公用设施；倒塌的电线杆会造成触电危险，堵塞疏散路线，当然还会引发火灾。

And we talked about goats — we’ll get to the goats …

我们讨论了山羊——我们将讨论山羊……

Purvis is a firefighter, though.

不过，珀维斯是一名消防员。

He understands by miserable experience that the best planning isn’t always enough: “When you look at the perfect storm of what we have the day of the Camp Fire, and the way that it came in and affected so many different communities, there’s really no way to prepare yourself for it.

他从悲惨的经历中了解到，最好的计划并不总是足够的：“当你看到营火那天发生的完美风暴，以及它的到来并影响了如此多的不同社区时，你真的没有办法为此做好准备。

Now we’ve seen it.” He was also blunt about what pre-fire planning did allow for — and prevent.

现在我们已经看到了。”他还直言不讳地谈到了火灾前计划确实允许和预防的事情。

“Had we not done what we had in the town, when the Camp Fire hit, I would have fully expected that we would have had hundreds, if not thousands of people dead.”

“如果我们没有采取我们在镇上所做的事情，那么当营火发生时，我完全可以预料到我们将会有数百人，甚至数千人死亡。”

Of those who were killed by the Camp Fire, 80 percent were over age 65, and more than a dozen were physically or mentally impaired.

在营火中丧生的人中，80%的人年龄在65岁以上，还有十几人身体或精神受损。

Fatality statistics in Lāhainā are similar, demonstrating a pattern by which the elderly and impaired disproportionally perish in our 21st-century firestorms.

拉海纳的死亡统计数据类似，表明老年人和残疾人在 21 世纪的火灾风暴中死亡比例过高。

24 The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that about a quarter of the population in Paradise between 2012 and 2017 was elderly; nineteen percent of those who did not qualify as senior citizens had a disability.

24 美国人口普查局估计，2012 年至 2017 年间，天堂镇约四分之一的人口是老年人；不符合老年人资格的人中有百分之十九患有残疾。

25 To aid such people in evacuating, Chief Purvis told me, the town is developing a Special Needs Awareness Program, a registry that will be made available to first responders and human-services personnel in future disasters that require evacuation.

25 普维斯局长告诉我，为了帮助这些人疏散，该镇正在制定一项特殊需求意识计划，该计划将在未来发生需要疏散的灾难时向急救人员和公共服务人员提供。

Planning like this offers a chance of escape to those who need assistance, rather than leaving them stranded to die, alone.

这样的计划为那些需要帮助的人提供了逃脱的机会，而不是让他们孤零零地被困等死。

Central to any community’s disaster recovery is reconstruction of the buildings lost.

任何社区灾难恢复的核心都是重建受损的建筑物。

California has both a pioneering WUI building code, and one of the toughest hazard-driven codes in the nation.

加州拥有开创性的 WUI 建筑规范，以及全国最严格的危险驱动规范之一。

But even stringent codes can’t stop structures from burning.

但即使是严格的规范也无法阻止建筑物燃烧。

The odds of a building’s survival when a fire crosses the WUI is a complex calculus with outcomes tied to both immediate neighbors’ levels of preparedness, and enforcement of fire hygiene throughout a community.

当火灾穿过 WUI 时，建筑物的生存几率是一项复杂的计算，其结果与邻近邻居的准备水平以及整个社区的消防卫生执行情况有关。

The state WUI code was implemented in 2008.

国家 WUI 代码于 2008 年实施。

Of homes built after that in Paradise — i.e. homes that were WUI code-compliant — 56 percent were destroyed by the Camp Fire.

此后在天堂建造的房屋（即符合 WUI 规范的房屋）中，56% 被营火摧毁。

26

26

As fire marshal, and chief building official in charge of code enforcement, Tony Lindsey’s job is not entirely enviable.

作为消防队长和负责法规执行的首席建筑官员，托尼·林赛的工作并不完全令人羡慕。

“We do weed-abatement enforcement,” he explained to me.

“我们进行除草执法，”他向我解释道。

This means that, in addition to managing the town’s building department and permitting processes, Lindsey’s agency ensures that overgrown lots are cleared of vegetation near structures, so that those weeds don’t burn, igniting homes that in turn set other homes alight.

这意味着，除了管理该镇的建筑部门和许可程序外，林赛的机构还确保清除建筑物附近杂草丛生的植被，这样这些杂草就不会燃烧，点燃房屋，进而点燃其他房屋。

These days, what was once a seasonal task has become a year-around concern, and, to the Don’t-Tread-On-Me crowd, the fire marshal and his team are scolds with an unlimited license to bitch.

如今，曾经的季节性任务已成为全年关注的问题，而且，对于“别踩我”的人群来说，消防队长和他的团队是无限制地发牢骚的责骂者。

In one respect, this is true: there is no longer a time of year when a fire-prevention specialist can relax, or let his neighbors relax either.

从一方面来说，这是事实：一年中不再有一个时候消防专家可以放松，或者让他的邻居放松。

As the rainy season becomes more unpredictable and snowpack lessens, fuels are always growing and drying.

随着雨季变得更加不可预测，积雪减少，燃料总是在增长和干燥。

“At this point, what does fire season mean anyway, right?” Lindsey asked.

“至此，火灾季节到底意味着什么，对吧？”林赛问道。

It’s another question for our age.

这是我们这个时代的另一个问题。

Slideshow Slideshow Members of a California Conservation Corps wildland hand crew, about to descend into Cave Creek Valley while working the 330-acre Cohasset Prescribed Burn on November 11, 2023.

幻灯片 幻灯片 2023 年 11 月 11 日，加州保护团荒地手工小组成员在占地 330 英亩的 Cohasset Prescribed Burn 工作期间即将进入 Cave Creek Valley。

Slideshow The fire line looking into Cave Creek Valley, during the Cohasset Prescribed Burn.

幻灯片 在科哈塞特规定燃烧期间，火线俯瞰洞溪谷。

Slideshow Smoke hangs above the 330-acre Cohasset Prescribed Burn northeast of Paradise.

天堂东北部占地 330 英亩的 Cohasset Prescribed Burn 上空笼罩着烟雾。

Slideshow A Cal Fire Super Huey helicopter with its hanging "Heli-Torch" working the Cohasset Prescribed Burn above the Cave Creek Valley.

一架加州消防超级休伊直升机悬挂着“直升机火炬”，在洞溪山谷上方的科哈塞特指定燃烧场工作。

Slideshow New, post-Camp Fire homes alongside the site of a destroyed single family home.

幻灯片 营火后的新住宅位于被毁的单户住宅遗址旁。

Slideshow A snag amidst surviving conifers in an area of Paradise being rebuilt.

幻灯片 正在重建的天堂地区幸存的针叶树中出现了障碍。

Facing such imponderables, Paradise has modified its building codes.

面对这些难以估量的问题，Paradise 修改了其建筑规范。

“The town is actually requiring more” than the California Building Code stipulates, Lindsey told me, relative not only to weed abatement, but to fencing adjacent to buildings, accessory building separations, and maintenance of defensible space.

林赛告诉我，“该镇实际上要求的”比《加州建筑规范》规定的还要多，不仅涉及除草，还涉及建筑物附近的围栏、附属建筑隔离以及防御空间的维护。

“Those are the things that we adopted locally and [are] certainly exportable,” Lindsey said when I asked about lessons others might take from the town’s experience.

当我问及其他人可能从该镇的经验中吸取的教训时，林赛说：“这些是我们在当地采用的东西，当然可以出口。”

At the same time, even with these additional requirements to review, his department is doing something that most similar departments nationwide would find inconceivable: they are expediting the permitting process.

与此同时，即使有这些额外的审查要求，他的部门仍在做一些全国大多数类似部门都认为不可思议的事情：他们正在加快许可流程。

“Yep.

是的。

First come, first served.

先到先得。

No matter who you are, what you’re building, from your custom to your [prefab], we’ll turn those around in three weeks.” Three weeks?

无论您是谁，正在建造什么，从您的定制到您的[预制件]，我们都会在三周内扭转局面。”三周？

“We just say it’s three weeks, and we over-deliver on that.

“我们只是说需要三周，而且我们超额交付了。

So that’s — I don’t know — it’s pretty fast, right?”

所以——我不知道——速度相当快，对吧？”

All the interconnected obligations required to rebuild and maintain at these newly heightened levels bring us to “good fire,” and to the goats.

在这些新提高的水平上进行重建和维护所需的所有相互关联的义务使我们能够“善火”和山羊。

During my week in Paradise, I witnessed a prescribed burn on 330 acres, in a narrow valley of pine and bay laurel some fifteen miles out of town.

在天堂的一周里，我亲眼目睹了 330 英亩土地上的指定烧伤，位于距城镇约 15 英里的一个长满松树和月桂树的狭窄山谷中。

The Cohasset Prescribed Burn was staffed by wildland hand crews from the California Conservation Corps, using drip torches and incendiaries under Cal Fire design and supervision.

科哈塞特规定燃烧场由来自加州保护军团的荒地工作人员组成，在加州消防局的设计和监督下使用滴水炬和燃烧弹。

Two Cal Fire choppers flew overhead, fitted with flame throwers, raining more destruction down on the valley’s overgrowth.

两架配备火焰喷射器的加州消防直升机从头顶飞过，给山谷的过度生长带来了更多的破坏。

This was good fire, too long absent in California and across the west.

这是一场好火，在加州和整个西部已经很久没有发生了。

The burn was executed with uncompromising precision, a rigorous ballet without a step or sweep of an arm out of place.

烧伤动作的精确度毫不妥协，就像一场严格的芭蕾舞，没有任何一步或手臂的扫动。

The next day I saw an equally important but far less dramatic and resource-intensive fuel-management strategy in action in and around Paradise: goats and sheep from Hanski Family Farms eat what can’t safely be burned.

第二天，我在天堂及其周边地区看到了同样重要但不那么引人注目且资源密集型的燃料管理策略：来自汉斯基家庭农场的山羊和绵羊吃不能安全燃烧的东西。

Proprietor Swede Hanski told me that his animals clear about a thousand acres per year at roughly $450 an acre, versus a cost of two to three thousand dollars an acre for hand-clearing and mechanical mastication.

业主 Swede Hanski 告诉我，他的动物每年清理约 1000 英亩土地，每英亩大约 450 美元，而手工清理和机械咀嚼的成本为每英亩 2 至 3000 美元。

The Hanskis have regular clients; employ Chilean herdsmen with Anatolian shepherd dogs to live onsite; and still can’t do all the work they are offered.

汉斯基一家有固定的客户。雇用智利牧民和安纳托利亚牧羊犬在现场生活；但仍然无法完成他们提供的所有工作。

Behind an electric fence, beside the “Welcome to Paradise” sign on Skyway Road, an Anatolian shepherd guards its flock of goats at Hanski Family Farms.

在斯凯威路上的电围栏后面，“欢迎来到天堂”标志旁边，一名安纳托利亚牧羊人在汉斯基家庭农场看守着羊群。

The morning of November 8, 2023, the anniversary, dawned with gusty winds, and as the memorial began, people in the crowd spoke of the day’s eerily familiar “unseasonable” weather.

2023 年 11 月 8 日早上，也就是周年纪念日，一阵阵风吹来，当纪念活动开始时，人群中的人们谈到了当天熟悉的“反季节”天气。

Assemblyman James Gallagher was emotional as he recounted the losses, describing Paradise as “that ‘city on a hill’ that continues to shine for the world.” Not the best metaphor, perhaps, but his point was clear: there are lessons on the ridge.

众议员詹姆斯·加拉格尔在讲述损失时情绪激动，将天堂描述为“继续为世界闪耀的‘山上之城’”。也许这不是最好的比喻，但他的观点很明确：山脊上有教训。

27 Teri DuBose, the district’s representative for U.S. Congressman Doug LaMalfa, told the audience that she had been a volunteer firefighter responding to the Camp Fire.

27 美国国会议员道格·拉马尔法 (Doug LaMalfa) 的地区代表泰瑞·杜博斯 (Teri DuBose) 告诉观众，她曾是一名参与营火救援的志愿消防员。

This is the way it is, up and down these hills: constant, persistent connections.

上下山坡就是这样：持续不断的联系。

At 11:08, an aching 85 seconds of silence were observed, one second for each community member who perished five years ago.

11点08分，人们进行了令人痛苦的85秒默哀，每人为五年前去世的社区成员默哀一秒。

Mayor Bolin then took the mic to dedicate a time capsule.

博林市长随后拿起麦克风为时间胶囊揭幕。

“I don’t like the word ‘anniversary,’” he said.

“我不喜欢‘周年纪念’这个词，”他说。

“I guess ‘commemoration’ or something?

“我猜是‘纪念’什么的？

‘Anniversary’ just sounds like a celebration.” Grappling publicly, poignantly, with language’s limits, Bolin’s voice competed with the wind in the mic.

‘周年纪念日’听起来就像是一场庆祝活动。”博林公开地、尖锐地与语言的限制作斗争，他的声音与麦克风里的风竞争。

The crowd murmured a collective acknowledgement.

众人低声集体承认。

The next night, at Paradise Alliance Church, I talked with lead pastor Josh Gallagher (no relation to the assemblyman), who told me that the town “is never going to look like it did.” He described the social challenge of reconciling old and new Paradise.

第二天晚上，在天堂联盟教堂，我与首席牧师乔什·加拉格尔（Josh Gallagher）（与议员没有关系）交谈，他告诉我，这个小镇“永远不会像以前那样了”。他描述了协调新旧天堂所面临的社会挑战。

Historically, it’s been a hard-working blue-collar place, but the new people are often white-collar folks working remotely.

从历史上看，这里一直是勤劳的蓝领地方，但新来的人往往是远程工作的白领。

This class difference dovetails with another social issue that might act as a speed bump on the journey to recovery.

这种阶级差异与另一个社会问题相吻合，可能会成为复苏之路上的减速带。

Colette Curtis is the town’s Recovery and Economic Development Director.

科莱特·柯蒂斯 (Colette Curtis) 是该镇的恢复和经济发展总监。

I told her I had heard that some minority residents were feeling their recovery concerns had gone unheard.

我告诉她，我听说一些少数族裔居民觉得他们对康复的担忧没有被听到。

“There is not as much diversity [here] as you find in other parts of California, even just in Chico,” she acknowledged.

“这里的多样性并不像加州其他地方那么多，甚至只是在奇科，”她承认。

Curtis spoke of “distrust among certain groups,” adding, “I think people, sometimes, that tend to want to live in mountain towns — they feel like they’re kind of far out, far away.

柯蒂斯谈到“某些群体之间的不信任”，并补充道，“我认为有时人们倾向于生活在山城里——他们觉得自己有点遥远。

They want less government for [whatever] reasons ….

他们出于[无论]什么原因希望减少政府……。

The distrust [of government] is a huge barrier.” The personal and social tensions the mayor had mentioned snapped into sharper focus.

对[政府]的不信任是一个巨大的障碍。”市长提到的个人和社会紧张局势突然成为人们关注的焦点。

It’s a broadly American picture.

这是一幅广泛的美国图景。

Even given all of this, it was social cohesion that I felt most vividly during my visit.

即使考虑到所有这些，我在访问期间感受最深刻的是社会凝聚力。

At Paradise Alliance Church, as I finished talking with Pastor Gallagher, he introduced me to Pastor Tim Bolin, one of the mayor’s two pastor brothers.

在天堂宣道会，当我与加拉格尔牧师交谈完后，他向我介绍了蒂姆·博林牧师，他是市长的两位牧师兄弟之一。

Pastor Bolin told me that, right after the fire, church staff casting about for a way to help had settled on Thursday dinners.

博林牧师告诉我，火灾发生后，教堂工作人员正在寻找帮助的方法，最终决定在周四的晚餐上进行。

The community was scattered to the wind.

社区被风吹散了。

People missed their friends, and the church wanted a way to draw them back together.

人们想念他们的朋友，教会希望找到一种方法让他们重聚。

The dinners would last six months, they figured — tops.

他们认为，这些晚餐将持续六个月——最多。

The gatherings continued for three years.

聚会持续了三年。

This Thursday’s meal would be the last, and 350 chicken dinners had been prepared by volunteers — though that wouldn’t be enough for the overflow crowd.

本周四的这顿饭将是最后一顿，志愿者们已经准备了 350 份鸡肉晚餐——尽管这对于人满为患的人群来说还不够。

Standing on the gymnasium stage, Pastor Bolin asked how many of the assembled had been in town during the fire, which meant fled for their lives and, likely as not, lost everything.

站在体育馆的舞台上，博林牧师询问火灾期间有多少人在城里，这意味着他们逃命，很可能会失去一切。

Nearly every hand went up.

几乎所有人都举手了。

Then Mayor Bolin again took the mic.

随后博林市长再次拿起麦克风。

He rattled off a catalogue of staggering statistics: 3.7 million tons of debris removed and driven 28.2 million road miles, to be buried as hazardous waste in landfills in nearby Shasta and Yuba counties.

他列举了一系列令人震惊的统计数据：清除了 370 万吨碎片，行驶了 2820 万英里，作为危险废物埋在附近沙斯塔县和尤巴县的垃圾填埋场。

28 Allocations of $93 million from the state and feds to repave public roads, with an additional $200 million for evacuation routes — the largest such grant in U.S. history.

28 州政府和联邦政府拨款 9,300 万美元用于重新铺设公共道路，另外拨款 2 亿美元用于疏散路线——这是美国历史上最大的此类拨款。

Another $7 million for fire-hardening area homes that survived.

另外 700 万美元用于对幸存的地区房屋进行防火加固。

At this point, I confess, my note taking falls apart, and I’m not sure who was onstage.

在这一点上，我承认，我的笔记崩溃了，我不确定台上是谁。

On each table in the church gym were postcards illustrated with two outlined shapes, the state of California and the island of Maui.

教堂体育馆的每张桌子上都贴着明信片，上面画着两个轮廓形状：加利福尼亚州和毛伊岛。

The inscription read: “You Are Loved FROM ONE PARADISE TO ANOTHER.” On the reverse it said: “We have been where you are five years ago.

铭文上写着：“你从一个天堂到另一个天堂都被爱着。”背面写着：“五年前我们就处于你们现在的处境。

Let me encourage you…” There was room for a message and a signature.

让我鼓励你……”有空间可以留言和签名。

My eyes welled up.

我的眼睛湿润了。

Some of the 350 chicken dinners prepared by members of Paradise Alliance Church for the reunion gathering.

天堂宣道会成员为团圆聚会准备了 350 份鸡肉晚餐。

The speaker — I think it was Pastor Gallagher — explained to the diners, who had just finished slabs of cheesecake, that there was one postcard for every attendee to fill out.

演讲者——我想是加拉格尔牧师——向刚刚吃完芝士蛋糕的食客们解释说，每个与会者都有一张明信片需要填写。

They’d be collected and sent to Maui by Alliance Church.

他们将被联盟教会收集并送往毛伊岛。

Then he announced my presence.

然后他宣布我的到来。

Everybody turned.

所有人都转过身来。

I waved wanly, just another journalist entangled in their own disaster reporting.

我无力地挥手，我只是另一位忙于报道自己的灾难的记者。

On the fire’s anniversary, before the official event at Paradise Community Park, I ducked into a pancake breakfast at Table Mountain Masonic Lodge, a stout stone building constructed in 1936.

火灾周年纪念日那天，在天堂社区公园举行正式活动之前，我在桌山共济会小屋（一栋建于 1936 年的坚固石头建筑）享用了煎饼早餐。

Among the memorial installations in the lodge’s overflow hall was an epic poem, presented in a ring binder on a podium.

旅馆大厅里的纪念装置中有一首史诗，用活页夹装在讲台上。

It started conventionally enough.

一开始就很传统。

But a few pages in, the saga became a harrowing accounting of the individual circumstances of the deaths caused by the fire — and the lives and loves of the victims, all 85 of them.

但在几页之后，这个传奇故事就变成了对火灾造成的死亡的个人情况以及所有 85 名受害者的生活和爱情的悲惨叙述。

Four days before the anniversary, on November 4, 2023, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Mark Arax, an investigate reporter with familial ties to California’s Central Valley.

2023 年 11 月 4 日，也就是周年纪念日的四天前，《纽约时报》发表了一篇由与加州中央谷有家族关系的调查记者马克·阿拉克斯 (Mark Arax) 撰写的专栏文章。

Arax describes Paradise as “one of those blunders of American suburbia, a misplaced place that made little ecological sense.” He quotes Colette Curtis, who told him, “We can choose to let these disasters chase us from place to place or we can learn to live with them in a way that is as sustainable and resilient as possible.” Arax writes that he did not challenge Curtis, though he plainly sees things differently; he argues that PG&E’s settlement funds and other rebuilding money might be dressing up “human folly as it greets climate change barging through the door.” He is incredulous that the state has not declared “Paradise an unfit place to grow again.” 29

阿拉克斯将天堂描述为“美国郊区的错误之一，一个没有什么生态意义的错误地方。”他引用了科莱特·柯蒂斯的话说，“我们可以选择让这些灾难将我们从一个地方追到另一个地方，或者我们可以学会以尽可能可持续和有弹性的方式与它们共存。”阿拉克斯写道，他并没有挑战柯蒂斯，尽管他显然有不同的看法。他认为，PG&E 的和解基金和其他重建资金可能会掩盖“人类的愚蠢行为，因为它迎接了气候变化的到来”。他难以置信国家没有宣布“天堂不适合再次生长”。 29

It is hard not to see all California like this.

很难不看到整个加州都是这样的。

Certainly Arax’s Central Valley fits the bill, as wildland no longer wild, inhabited by the hubris of capital and ignorance, set to burn, sink, flood, topple in the Big One, or maybe just to cook people to death in successive heatwaves.

当然，阿拉克斯的中央山谷符合这一要求，因为荒野不再是荒野，而是资本和无知的傲慢所居住的地方，大峡谷将被烧毁、下沉、洪水、倒塌，或者可能只是在连续的热浪中将人们煮死。

Look past California’s borders, and it is easy to see the U.S. and the world at large through Arax’s pessimism.

放眼加州边界，很容易通过阿拉克斯的悲观主义看到美国和整个世界。

We live in the world that we have built.

我们生活在我们建造的世界里。

I myself have questioned, in print, our return to the sites of climatically influenced disasters.

我本人曾在印刷品中对我们返回受气候影响的灾难现场提出过质疑。

But we humans, for a while at least, will remain — whether we figure out new ways of living on the earth or not.

但我们人类，至少在一段时间内，将继续存在——无论我们是否找到了在地球上生活的新方式。

Where should Paradesians go if not home?

如果不回家，Paradesians 应该去哪里？

After this visit, I am certain that they ought to be able to return to a home that is re-envisioned to exact a less destructive impact on the land.

这次访问之后，我确信他们应该能够返回一个经过重新设计的家园，以减少对土地的破坏性影响。

They should be able to return to systems supporting life, healthcare, and property insurance that have been redesigned away from profit to function as community safety nets, especially for those communities who do the work to mitigate their risk.

他们应该能够回归支持人寿、医疗保健和财产保险的系统，这些保险已经从利润重新设计为社区安全网，特别是对于那些努力降低风险的社区。

This is the opportunity in Paradise.

这就是天堂里的机会。

It is an opportunity, also, in that other paradise of Lāhainā, where the lessons to be learned in Butte County must be applied in the context of an active extirpation of Indigenous culture at its nexus with ancestral place — a slow-and-fast brutality driven by today’s untenable housing costs.

对于拉海纳的另一个天堂来说，这也是一个机会，必须将在比尤特县吸取的经验教训应用于积极消灭与祖先所在地相关的土著文化的背景下——这是由当今难以维持的住房成本驱动的缓慢而快速的野蛮行为。

Not to mention tourism, overwhelming tourism.

别说旅游了，压倒性的旅游。

Volunteers put the finishing touches on a new mural at the Paradise Art Center.

志愿者们正在对天堂艺术中心的新壁画进行收尾工作。

The first flowers to bloom in Paradise after the Camp Fire were daffodils, a North African species widely hybridized.

营火之后，天堂里第一批绽放的花朵是水仙花，这是一种广泛杂交的北非品种。

True: these flowers are not native to this place in the Sierras, any more than contemporary Paradesians are.

事实是：这些花并不是内华达山脉这个地方的原生植物，就像当代的帕拉迪斯花一样。

But the town is returning here, perhaps even blooming, because it is a place : a community with a history.

但这个小镇正在回归，甚至可能蓬勃发展，因为它是一个地方：一个有历史的社区。

It is a town being rebuilt on the ashes of catastrophic failure.

这是一个在灾难性失败的废墟上重建的城镇。

It may not work.

它可能不起作用。

Nobody I spoke with saw self-sustaining tax bases and reliable economies as faits accomplis.

与我交谈的人中，没有人认为自我维持的税基和可靠的经济是既成事实。

The lessons of Paradise are incomplete, as are revisions to the ways we live, everywhere, in the face of global warming.

天堂的教训是不完整的，面对全球变暖，我们各地的生活方式的修正也是不完整的。

Our history of living on earth is proving to be not-great.

事实证明，我们在地球上的生活历史并不美好。

But it is the history we have, the one we must carry into the futures we make for ourselves.

但这是我们拥有的历史，我们必须将其带入我们为自己创造的未来。

Arax’s position is wrong; Paradise will not be targeted by another climate-influenced fire just because of the town’s so-called hubris in rebuilding.

阿拉克斯的立场是错误的；天堂不会仅仅因为该镇在重建过程中所谓的狂妄自大而成为另一场受气候影响的火灾的目标。

Global warming will not discern between “blunders of American suburbia” and the building strategies of Arax’s presumably more enlightened settlements — not unless that enlightenment is nearly universally applied on earth.

全球变暖无法区分“美国郊区的错误”和阿拉克斯可能更开明的定居点的建筑策略——除非这种开明几乎在地球上得到普遍应用。

Climate-compounded disasters will come for any of us, anywhere.

气候造成的灾难将降临在我们任何地方的任何人身上。

But, in the face of that hard reality, Paradise’s disaster planning shows that some of the worst outcomes are preventable.

但是，面对严峻的现实，天堂的灾难规划表明，一些最糟糕的结果是可以预防的。

With this in mind, might we return to the disaster sites — the places — that can be rebuilt, as wisely as we’re able to rebuild them?

考虑到这一点，我们是否可以回到灾难现场——那些可以重建的地方，就像我们能够明智地重建它们一样？