Desert Sun Staff

Despite its idyllic name, the Northern California town of Paradise has had multiple brushes with hellish fires. Twice before, it has cheated death.

In June 2008, hundreds of structures burned when the Humboldt Fire spread rapidly from the outskirts of Chico uphill to Paradise, scorching 23,000 acres. As many as 10,000 residents were evacuated, according to a Cal Fire history of that month's epic fires, which charred more than 1.6 million acres across the state.

A month later, another fire known as the Camp Fire, burned on the north-east side of Paradise along the west branch of the Feather River. Thousands more were evacuated from their homes, but the fire failed to cross the river.

Now, a decade later, the Camp Fire has been reincarnated in Paradise -- in much more devastating form.

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As of Thursday night, the 2018 Camp Fire had destroyed thousands of structures, Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean told The Associated Press. And as it moved toward Chico, it was threatening 15,000 structures. Some 2,289 fire personnel were assigned to the blaze along with 303 fire engines, 59 crews, 11 helicopters, 24 bulldozers and 11 water trucks, Cal Fire said.

Paradise, which got its start with the California gold rush of the 1850s, sits in the Sierra Nevada foothills 12 miles east of Chico and 90 miles north of Sacramento. Among its claims to fame was the discovery in 1859 of a 54-pound gold nugget, the largest ever found in North America.

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Later, Paradise became a lumber center and an agricultural hub known as the "Apple Center of California." It is the second-largest city in Butte County, with about 27,000 residents.

Perhaps because of its history with fires, the city posts evacuation brochures and information on its website.

But earlier this week, disaster hardly seemed to be in the air. Wednesday morning's Paradise Post, the local newspaper, carried front-page stories about the opening of an ice rink, the discovery of a rabid bat in a local resident's back yard, and an educator honored as "teacher of the month."

There was no mention of any fire danger.

Associated Press and The Redding Record-Searchlight contributed to this report.