He saved his house - with a rake, shovel and water hose

Stewart Nugent says he doesn't know if he is a fool or a hero. Maybe both.

They barely got any warning, he and his wife. They heard in the morning news that it was burning in a neighboring city, looked out and saw that the sky was black. His wife packed the car and stuffed one of the cats.

Stewart Nugent said he would bring the other cat and go in the RV immediately after her. That was a week ago. The motorhome is still outside the house. Stewart Nugent chose to stay. He fought the fire for six hours.

- I ran here, I ran there, ran to the front, ran to the back, and so I kept going, he says and shows his gear.

He had a rake, a shovel and a water hose.

With them he managed to save his home. And next door. But basically everything else is gone. 95 percent of Paradise is gone. Over 7,000 homes, to which the 27,000 residents will never return. But most people do not know exactly how bad it is. They sit on the other side of the barricades, in the neighboring town of Chico, 15 minutes away and waiting for a message.

- Have you been there? What did it look like? a woman asks me.

"The city is gone," I say, and at the same moment watch her eyes lose some of her spark.

The media can get there. Not the affected ones. Firefighter Shane Vargas, who inspects the injuries, says it's too dangerous. He says that 52 of his colleagues lost their houses in the fire. Nevertheless, they continue to work.

In the town of Chico, 15 minutes away, there is a bulletin board with lists of missing. 130 people right now. Here, volunteers hand out clothes, shoes, food and toys to families who have lost everything. Like pregnant Brittney Flanders.

- They say you have to pick as much as you can, but I carried my kids so that meant there was no time to pick up anything else, she says, picking up diapers, a blanket and some baby clothes.

57,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. The hotels are full, the shelters are full. Now people are camping outside the department store, next to the collection. One of them is Jessamy Cartwright.

"Paradise was just that for me," she says. Paradise.

Why?

- The forest, nature, community, people. We have to go back, we have to build a new house.

And 15 minutes away, alone in Barred Paradise, Stewart Nugent hopes that he will soon be reunited with the city.

- But it will never be the same.