Gloria and Mike Sikut’s home in Paradise (Butte County), seen here on Feb. 10, 2019, stands next to the ashes of a house that burned down in the November 2018 Camp Fire. The day of the fire, after the Sikuts fled to an evacuation point, Mike snuck back to get Gloria’s CPAP machine and their homeowners insurance information. Gloria cried when he left. Police found Mike outside with a hose, spraying down the house.
When California’s most devastating wildfire destroyed the town of Paradise in November 2018, Gloria and Mike Sikut narrowly escaped. The home they had lived in for decades somehow survived even as the Camp Fire burned down 95% of the town. For months, they lived in motels with those who lost their homes. Three months later, after extensive work on their home to remove smoke damage, the Sikuts returned to a ghost town.
Back at home, a cancer-causing chemical contaminated their house’s water supply, forcing them to use bottled water for months. Mike built a long fence to block their kitchen window view — he grew depressed by seeing the devastation.
Now, years later, Paradise has become one of the fastest-growing cities in California. With insurance money, residents have rebuilt entire neighborhoods. Many of the homes are larger than the originals, the Sikuts said. But as people and businesses return, they feel it’s not the town they once knew.
“People are coming back,” Mike said, “but we don’t know any of them.”
Displaced (February 2019)
The remains of a house and burnt trees emerge from the fog in Paradise, Calf., in Feb. 2019, after the Camp Fire ravaged the town leaving it mostly deserted.
Post-fire disaster workers test for toxicity levels in Paradise on Feb. 2, 2019, three months after the Camp Fire destroyed most of the town. After detecting elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene in the water, officials advised residents to avoid using the water for drinking, cooking, bathing or brushing teeth. “It was difficult living without water,” Gloria said. “I mean, to live like that for months, 24/7.” Mike said: “It was poison.”
A memorial of crosses outside Paradise is seen on Feb. 2, 2019, commemorating those who lost their lives during the Camp Fire three months earlier.
Posters with information on more than 200 animals found after the fire hang on a school wall in Paradise, as seen on Feb. 2, 2019. Gloria and Mike Sikut were able to evacuate with their cat, Heidi.
Mike Sikut, left, and his wife Gloria shop at Home Depot in Chico on Feb. 3, 2019. Although their home in Paradise survived the Camp Fire, nearly their entire neighborhood burned down, and their house was damaged by smoke. During months of being displaced, they spent time processing insurance claims and browsing Home Depot to replace their damaged appliances.
Quality Inn front desk receptionist Ariel Burkholder sits in the motel lobby in Chico on Feb. 2, 2019. According to Burkholder, three months after the Camp Fire hit the town of Paradise, the Quality Inn and other motels in the area were nearly full with displaced residents.
Gloria Sikut, and her husband, Mike Sikut, relax in their motel room in Chico on Feb. 3, 2019. The Sikuts fled Paradise on Nov. 8, 2018, as the Camp Fire roared through. While their home survived, it was damaged by smoke, and the Sikuts had to wait for the smoke to clear and the house to be professionally cleaned.
Three months after the Camp Fire, flowers bloom next to burned-down homes, as seen on Feb. 9, 2019.
Return to Paradise (February 2019)
Gloria and Mike Sikut hang a frame in their bedroom as they settle back into their home in Paradise on Feb. 10, 2019. When they first moved back to Paradise, they did not see many people for the first few years, until the lots were fully cleared around 2022, they estimated. But they were still grateful. “I think about people that lost everything,” said Gloria. “So your coffee table burnt down? You can buy another one. But pictures and stuff like that? Those can’t be replaced, you know?”
Gloria Sikut vacuums her living room as she and her husband settle back into their home on Feb. 10, 2019. Before the fire, the Sikuts had a community of friends they would see regularly — their next-door neighbors, Mike’s motorcycle buddy, and the neighborhood kids who would always say hello. When they got back, “Everyone was gone,” Gloria said. “We just kind of did our own thing.” Early on, Gloria and Mike passed the time working on their house and rebuilding their deck.
Mike and Gloria Sikut eat breakfast in their home on Feb. 10, 2019, shortly after returning to Paradise. For six months, the Sikuts had to drive about 20 minutes away to Chico to get groceries. “Everyone was so sad when Safeway burned down,” Gloria said.
Three days after returning home to Paradise, Mike Sikut surveys the integrity of the redwood trees surrounding their house, many of which are charred. The Sikuts lost approximately 25 trees on their property to the fire.
Two days after returning home, Gloria and Mike Sikut found hardened streams of melted metal on their property, as seen on Feb. 9, 2019.
A changed town (February 2024)
Paradise is seen in February 2024, more than five years after the Camp Fire devastated the town. While many lots remain vacant, some neighborhoods are filling with newly constructed houses and mobile homes.
A sign outside of Paradise's veterans hall promotes a square dancing class, as seen in February 2024. Many of the people moving to Paradise since the fire are new, Gloria and Mike Sikut said, but they have not felt up to meeting people.
The Sikuts try the fried fish at the Paradise Blue Lagoon Chowder House on Feb. 19, 2024, a few weeks after the restaurant’s grand reopening. With just a handful of local restaurants open more than five years after the fire, the Sikuts were thrilled to have a seafood restaurant again.
The remains of a gas station lost to the Camp Fire sit across the street from a new modular home development in Paradise, as seen in February 2024.
One of Gloria and Mike Sikut’s cars in Paradise was recently crushed in their front yard by a tree that died during the Camp Fire but fell much later. This photo is from February 2024.
A long fence outside the Sikuts’ home blocks the view from their kitchen window in Paradise, as seen in February 2024. The Sikuts returned to their home three months after the 2018 Camp Fire when much of the town was riddled with devastation. “Every time I looked out there, I see nothing but disaster. Oh, god. I got depressed,” Mike said. He felt better after he constructed the fence. “I’m glad I did it,” he said.
An old photo of Gloria and Mike Sikut. The Sikuts, who met in high school in the Bay Area, have lived in their Paradise home for close to 20 years. Shortly before the 2018 fire, they were preparing to sell the house and leave Paradise. After the fire, they had no choice but to move back, as their home was no longer marketable.
Two rings sit on Mike Sikut’s desk in Paradise, as seen in February 2024. After the fire, Mike Sikut found the rings among the ashes of his neighbors' home. The Sikuts said that they tried to contact the neighbors - who moved away - but they never heard back.
Gloria Sikut, left, and her husband Mike settle into bed in Paradise on Feb. 19, 2024, five years after they returned to their home after the devastating Camp Fire. “We were just happy that the house made it. Really happy,” Gloria said. “I just can’t imagine all these people that literally have to start all over again. I mean, where do you start? It’s gut wrenching.”
Paradise in February 2024. Six years after the Camp Fire, Mike Sikut maintains his yard regularly to make sure there is no built-up debris that can catch fire. His advice to others returning home after a fire: “They have to get their lots cleaned up. That’s the first thing,” he said. “Get that stuff out of your mind. Get it out of there.” For Gloria, seeing fires on the television strikes a chord. “I was even crying watching the news of the people in Hawaii,” she said, referring to the 2023 Lahaina fire. “We know how you feel.”