Paradise, CA
Posted: November 16th, 2019, 11:33 pm
Paradise, CA was the large CA fire last year that was pretty well covered in the news known as the "Camp Fire."
I had not seen this town since the fire, until today. However, I visited this town numerous times prior to the fire.
Driving into the town on a back road I came across a gas station. Well, it was a gas station. There was a canopy and gas pumps and a sign on the road but the building was gone. A few more minutes up the road I saw the local hospital. Well, what was the local hospital. The building looked undamaged and maintained but was closed and fenced off.
Between those, I was noticing what looked like driveways, but no houses there. Some had RVs or trailers and people were obviously living where their houses were. A number of the vacant lots where houses had been also had "for sale" signs.
The store situation there had Kmart close (nothing happened to it, but it never reopened after the fire), and Safeway and Grocery Outlet completely burnt down. Prevously the Safeway was by far the busiest store in Paradise.
Looking at some stores, went to Save Mart first. They just remodeled their store. Store closes at 8 PM; awfully early, I thought (later I would learn that was actually the latest closing time in town). They had a trickle of customers. The store may have similar traffic to what it had before, but I am not so sure. Deli was very spread out, bakery was also minimal. About half of service meat/seafood case was filled with things like prepack Johnsonville sausage, and other long shelf life items. Prices in the store seemed very high, noticeably higher than usual for the chain. I guess their remodel was symbolic as an effort to show commitment to the town since the previously popular Safeway is gone. But more of the residents have moved on too and I question how viable this location is at this time, especially as it sits in a big 90% vacant shopping center.
Next went to Sav Mor (Holiday) in Magalia a few miles up from Paradise. Also noticed this store closing at 8 PM now. The store was very lightly stocked on perishables and had a trickle of customers similar to the Save Mart. It seemed to have less customers than before.
Back down into Paradise and passed at least 4 other lots with canopy and gas pumps and a sign on the road but no building anymore. Some businesses have cleared their lots. Others have left signs out on the road but there is no building there anymore (Burger King and Jack in the Box, among others). Starbucks looks to have just rebuilt its location and was open. Taco Bell was also open.
Walgreens was open, among many other burnt businesses, and closes at 6 PM daily.
Next went to Holiday, which had a trickle of customers similar to the other two stores. This store has always seemed very slow and I think it had more customers than before. It closes at 7 PM. However one thing that caught me here was they had signs up that said all water in the store is being brought in by truck or tank or something and is being tested for safety. I wondered what that was all about.
Near the Holiday is a CVS; this store closes at 6 PM and the pharmacy is only open Monday-Friday. But it looked pretty normal as far as CVS goes.
Next was Rite Aid. The only open business at what was previously a busy corner (Safeway and Grocery Outlet were across the street and a good sized busy Arco/AM PM was across the street the other way). They had "now open" banners out front. This store also closes at 7 PM but the pharmacy is at least open weekends. The store inside is unchanged from before (has the 10 year old interior) but was very lightly stocked. The ice cream counter was closed and I was told it was due to problems with the water. The customer restroom had a sign posted inside that said "DO NOT DRINK WATER."
So I guess there is something wrong with the water supply, even a year after the fire? After reading this article, I have a better understanding. Tough to see how this town can rebuild given this situation... https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/envir ... 69259.html
Curiously the old gable Safeway which was relocated in the 80's which is now an Ace Hardware was still up and running and did not appear to have been damaged.
This was a very sad situation. It also did not seem like much rebuilding was happening (there was some... but it sure wasn't like Joplin after the natural disaster there a number of years ago where it seemed to be a full court press rebuilding effort). Given the water situation... probably is not helping.
I had not seen this town since the fire, until today. However, I visited this town numerous times prior to the fire.
Driving into the town on a back road I came across a gas station. Well, it was a gas station. There was a canopy and gas pumps and a sign on the road but the building was gone. A few more minutes up the road I saw the local hospital. Well, what was the local hospital. The building looked undamaged and maintained but was closed and fenced off.
Between those, I was noticing what looked like driveways, but no houses there. Some had RVs or trailers and people were obviously living where their houses were. A number of the vacant lots where houses had been also had "for sale" signs.
The store situation there had Kmart close (nothing happened to it, but it never reopened after the fire), and Safeway and Grocery Outlet completely burnt down. Prevously the Safeway was by far the busiest store in Paradise.
Looking at some stores, went to Save Mart first. They just remodeled their store. Store closes at 8 PM; awfully early, I thought (later I would learn that was actually the latest closing time in town). They had a trickle of customers. The store may have similar traffic to what it had before, but I am not so sure. Deli was very spread out, bakery was also minimal. About half of service meat/seafood case was filled with things like prepack Johnsonville sausage, and other long shelf life items. Prices in the store seemed very high, noticeably higher than usual for the chain. I guess their remodel was symbolic as an effort to show commitment to the town since the previously popular Safeway is gone. But more of the residents have moved on too and I question how viable this location is at this time, especially as it sits in a big 90% vacant shopping center.
Next went to Sav Mor (Holiday) in Magalia a few miles up from Paradise. Also noticed this store closing at 8 PM now. The store was very lightly stocked on perishables and had a trickle of customers similar to the Save Mart. It seemed to have less customers than before.
Back down into Paradise and passed at least 4 other lots with canopy and gas pumps and a sign on the road but no building anymore. Some businesses have cleared their lots. Others have left signs out on the road but there is no building there anymore (Burger King and Jack in the Box, among others). Starbucks looks to have just rebuilt its location and was open. Taco Bell was also open.
Walgreens was open, among many other burnt businesses, and closes at 6 PM daily.
Next went to Holiday, which had a trickle of customers similar to the other two stores. This store has always seemed very slow and I think it had more customers than before. It closes at 7 PM. However one thing that caught me here was they had signs up that said all water in the store is being brought in by truck or tank or something and is being tested for safety. I wondered what that was all about.
Near the Holiday is a CVS; this store closes at 6 PM and the pharmacy is only open Monday-Friday. But it looked pretty normal as far as CVS goes.
Next was Rite Aid. The only open business at what was previously a busy corner (Safeway and Grocery Outlet were across the street and a good sized busy Arco/AM PM was across the street the other way). They had "now open" banners out front. This store also closes at 7 PM but the pharmacy is at least open weekends. The store inside is unchanged from before (has the 10 year old interior) but was very lightly stocked. The ice cream counter was closed and I was told it was due to problems with the water. The customer restroom had a sign posted inside that said "DO NOT DRINK WATER."
So I guess there is something wrong with the water supply, even a year after the fire? After reading this article, I have a better understanding. Tough to see how this town can rebuild given this situation... https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/envir ... 69259.html
Curiously the old gable Safeway which was relocated in the 80's which is now an Ace Hardware was still up and running and did not appear to have been damaged.
This was a very sad situation. It also did not seem like much rebuilding was happening (there was some... but it sure wasn't like Joplin after the natural disaster there a number of years ago where it seemed to be a full court press rebuilding effort). Given the water situation... probably is not helping.