"Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire" by Lizzie Johnson by

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:37:51 UTC

Interested in Volunteering? Register here: https://volunteers.uso.org

Current Reads

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:38:49 UTC

Book Recommendations

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:39:07 UTC

USO OVBC 2026 Book Picks

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:39:53 UTC

USO OVBC September Registration

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:40:03 UTC

USO OVBC Post Survey

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:40:13 UTC

Post Survey here

Introductions

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:40:21 UTC

Since we're spread out across the world, please share your location (without sharing your exact address) on the padlet map! ** Feel free to share a quick bio in the thread, and/or directly on the padlet map (link below). -- What's your name? How do you identify (pronouns)? Where do you live?

Click here to add your location: USO OVBC Intros

Facebook

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:41:45 UTC

Join us on Facebook

Landing Page

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:41:54 UTC

Padlets

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:42:27 UTC

Discussion Guides

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 18:42:38 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:09:41 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:10:41 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:11:52 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:12:37 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:14:16 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:18:31 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:19:15 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:22:22 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-07-06 19:25:48 UTC

Were there any decisions made during the evacuation that you initially questioned but understood better once you considered the circumstances?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:58:40 UTC

What examples of courage stood out to you? Were they dramatic acts of heroism, or smaller acts of responsibility and compassion?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:58:51 UTC

The town had evacuation plans, emergency responders, roads, and warning systems. Why were those systems insufficient?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:03 UTC

Who—or what—bears responsibility for the destruction of Paradise? PG&E? Government officials? Development in fire-prone areas? Climate conditions? Forest management? Or is responsibility too complicated to assign to one source?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:12 UTC

The book raises an interesting distinction between rebuilding homes and rebuilding a community. Are those the same thing?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:21 UTC

Is the Camp Fire best understood as an extraordinary tragedy, or as a warning about disasters that may become increasingly common?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:29 UTC

What does the story suggest about the danger of designing emergency plans around what happened in the past rather than what might happen in the future?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:37 UTC

At times, Paradise reads almost like a thriller even though we know the outcome. Did that style make the story more powerful, or did you ever find it uncomfortable given that these were real people?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:46 UTC

If you were responsible for Paradise before November 8, 2018, and could change only one thing, what would you change?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 03:59:54 UTC

After finishing the book, do you see the Camp Fire primarily as a natural disaster, a human-caused disaster, or some combination of the two?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:00:03 UTC

How did Matthew McConaughey’s portrayal of Kevin McKay shape your view of him? Did you see him primarily as a hero, an ordinary person responding extraordinarily, or something in between?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:00:44 UTC

At what point does following normal procedures become less important than improvising?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:00:59 UTC

What did the book help you understand that the movie could not?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:01:08 UTC

Paradise tells the story of an entire community, while The Lost Bus concentrates much more heavily on one group of people. Was narrowing the story a good choice?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:01:18 UTC

The film naturally creates heroes because it follows people trying to save children. Does emphasizing individual heroism risk distracting us from the failures that helped create the disaster?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:01:27 UTC

Director Paul Greengrass is known for an immediate, almost documentary-like style, and the film was praised for the intensity and realism of its depiction of the fire. Did the wildfire itself feel almost like another character in the movie?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:01:36 UTC

After reading the book and watching the movie, do you think the Camp Fire should be described as a natural disaster?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:01:47 UTC

The movie tells a remarkable survival story. But 85 people died in the Camp Fire. How should a film balance an uplifting rescue story against the much larger tragedy surrounding it?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:01:59 UTC

Having both read Paradise and watched The Lost Bus, which one changed your understanding of the Camp Fire more—and why?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:02:07 UTC

What do you think the movie ultimately wants us to remember: the fire, the failures that caused the catastrophe, or the people who responded to it?

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-08 04:02:19 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-09 17:34:27 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-09 17:35:00 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-09 17:35:37 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-09 17:35:59 UTC

ovbc2026q3 — 2026-09-09 17:36:41 UTC