They lost everything in the Paradise fire. Now they’re reliving their grief as fires rage in Hawaii

By ADAM BEAM
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — As wildfires tear through the Hawaiian island of Maui, residents of a Northern California town are reliving their own harrowing experience with a similar conflagration. The town of Paradise was mostly destroyed by a wildfire in 2018 that bears many similarities to the blaze that devastated the town of Lahaina in Hawaii this week. The two places will be forever linked after undergoing the deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century. Some Paradise residents are organizing fundraising drives to support victims in Hawaii. Others are giving victims space to process their grief. The wildfire risks for both places have been well known for years. But both fires took local residents by surprise.