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ALEC STUTSON, ANCHOR:
Many survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire have been watching the news of wildfires in Maui with a sense of disbelief.
The fires there have now surpassed the Camp Fire for the number of fatalities, and earned the grim distinction as the deadliest wildfire in more than a century.
The Camp Fire largely razed the town of Paradise where NSPR reporter Jamie Jiang visited recently.
JAMIE JIANG, REPORTER:
After playing basketball at Paradise’s recreation center, Julian Biggerstaff sat in the shade and ate a protein bar.
Before I interrupted him, he’d been reading a story on his phone about how little warning people on Maui had to flee.
BIGGERSTAFF: “And I’m like, that’s insane!”
Biggerstaff was out of town on the day that Paradise burned, but he remembers the stories of people fleeing just minutes ahead of the flames.
Another eerily similar detail about Maui, Biggerstaff says, the lack of evacuation routes.
BIGGERSTAFF: “Here, you know, you only had one or two ways either north or south. Their’s is the ocean, a bunch of people jumping in the ocean.”
Biggerstaff, who was born and raised in Paradise, says it’s just depressing to watch such a similar debacle play out.
The same goes for Dave Brothers as he waits for takeout at a Thai restaurant in Paradise.
BROTHERS: “It's still a very fresh wound.”
Brothers is a retired fire captain and helped fight the Camp Fire.
He says the outrage in Maui over late notifications and poorly planned exit routes reminds him of Paradise.
BROTHERS: “So I think when people in our community here see the stuff on the news regarding Hawaii, it really reopens those experiences.”
Those memories have motivated people in Paradise to donate to survivors in Maui.
Dean Fender is helping collect funds for the Paradise Rotary Club. He says he knows what people in Lahaina are going through.
FENDER: “The feeling of hopelessness, and that everything is gone, including your community.”
Fender says the money they send will help people get back on their feet.
And, he says, the people of Paradise are ready to share all they’ve learned about wildfire recovery, when people in Maui are ready.
Correction: A previous version of this story misreported that the Terry Ashe Recreation Center in Paradise had been rebuilt after the 2018 Camp Fire. The recreation center was nearly untouched by the fire and did not need to be rebuilt.
