In US town of Paradise, residents defy recurring wildfires to rebuild their homes

“We’ve been in Paradise our entire lives. It’s home, that’s why we’re rebuilding here,” a resident explains as he shows FRANCE 24 around his new home after his former one burned down to the ground in one of the deadliest wildfires in the state’s history in 2018.

“I love this town, I love its people — especially after everything that happened. It just makes me feel that much closer to everybody. I’m not going to live in fear, I’m going to live my life.”

But it’s not just an emotional attachment to the town that is keeping the population of 4,000 in Paradise, it is also financial. House prices in Paradise cost just one-sixth of those in San Fransisco.

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