Ken Baker was expecting a check to arrive in the mail at his new house — part of a settlement after his Paradise, California, home burned in the 2018 Camp Fire. But that check won’t reach its destination. “The address it’s supposed to go to is no longer,” Baker said.
In a painful deja vu, the new house on July 25. Some of Baker’s family members watched their Ring camera feed until flames extinguished it. Baker and his wife, Sylvia, had settled in Cohasset, a rural community with a scattering of houses along winding forest roads about 5 miles from Paradise.
Now, they are staying in his son’s spare bedroom back in Paradise, contemplating how to rebuild for the second time in six years. “Daunting,” he said, identifying with the Greek legend of Sisyphus. “Rolling it up the hill and watching it roll back down again.
” The Park Fire is the fourth-largest in California’s history, and Baker is not the only person who lost a second house to it. Three other Camp Fire victims told NBC News similar stories of back-to-back losses. “We had our peace.
We had our spot,” said Michael Daneau, adding that he and his wife, Kristy, had finally started to feel fully settled in Cohasset. “It’s gone once again. There’s no way in this moment to fathom how we’re going to recover from this, except staying positive and keeping with our family and group of friends.
” The families’ stories show how risky and challenging it can be for those whose lives are rooted in fi.