NOVA

This has got potential

for a major incident.

A wildfire races toward a sleeping California town.

Right now, guys, Paradise is on effin' fire.

Residents awaken to a nightmare.

I don't want to die here.

Scientists speed toward the danger zone...

Yes, that's a scan we want.

Risking it all to unlock the mysteries of fire.

It's not something that you can just observe it

and figure out how it works.

Paradise is lost.

We have witnessed literally an entire community gone.

It's the worst fire in a season of worsts.

But why?

A history of mismanagement.

Everywhere, foresters were trying

to do the same, silly thing.

A warming climate.

I think we're moving into uncharted territory.

And a building boom in the forest.

We're literally putting homes in the line of fire.

The stakes... and the flames... Grow higher.

Right now, I'm wondering if we're in a good spot.

"Inside the Megafire,"

right now, on "NOVA."

Major funding for "NOVA" is provided by the following:

Major funding for "NOVA" is provided by the following:

Another sunny day

in the Sierra Nevada Mountains north of Sacramento.

November 8, 2018.

Skies are clear over Northern California today,

but it is going to be a very dangerous day for fire danger.

It's been more than 200 days

since there was any rain worth measuring.

The forest is bone-dry.

And now the wind season has arrived...

With a vengeance.

The strongest winds are expected across the Sierra,

where gusts could reach 60 miles an hour.

The stage is set for disaster.

Then, 85 miles north of Sacramento,

in a tiny hamlet called Pulga,

the wind blows a high-voltage power line off a tower

near the Camp Creek.

Sparks fly.

In 15 minutes, the first reports of fire come in.

It is 6:30 in the morning.

The Camp Fire has just begun.

When first responders arrive,

the flames are already so fierce,

and the winds so strong,

they have trouble getting close to the fire.

Eyes on the vegetation fire.

It's going to be very difficult to access.

Camp Creek Road is nearly inaccessible.

It's got about a 35-mile-an-hour sustained wind on it.

It's moving incredibly fast,

with a speed that stuns even veteran firefighters.

This has got potential for a major incident.

By 7:30, authorities issue an evacuation order for Pulga,

where the fire funnels up a canyon,

picks up speed, and explodes out over the rim.

The fire is now burning an acre of forest every second.

Firefighters cannot fight the flames.

Instead, they focus on rescuing residents.

In Pulga, it's already crossing that area,

heading towards the Concow area.

The fire consumes the small community of Concow

and heads toward Paradise, California,

where residents have just received immediate orders

to evacuate.

This fire starts,

and within minutes, it's hundreds of acres.

The man in charge of the state's wildfire fighting force,

Cal Fire,

is Ken Pimlott.

He's never seen anything like it.

Within an hour, it is in the town of Paradise.

Paradise.

Nestled in the woods high in the Sierra.

A close-knit community of 26,000,

many of them retirees drawn to the charm and beauty

of life in a small mountain town.

But along with it comes a looming vulnerability

about to be made hellishly evident

by the firestorm stampeding toward them.

Right now, guys, Paradise is on effin' fire.

I'm just going to get the out of Dodge.

This is getting heavy.

Residents attempt to flee...

Everything is burning.

Oh, my God, I mean everything.

Forced to run a gauntlet through flame.

There are only four roads that lead off the mountain,

and all of them are perilous.

Come on!

Just go!

Chaos captured in harrowing cell phone videos.

Oh, my God, there's fire everywhere.

I don't want to die here.

I don't want to die.

A tense escape from hell.

I'm scared!

It's Armageddon.

It's so hot.

Keep going!

Holy!

People are leaving their cars.

- Oh, my God. - It's okay.

What should we do?

We got to get out of here.

First responders race

to rescue hundreds of people trapped in their homes...

Are they coming for us?

Come on.

Watch out! Watch out!

Jess!

Cars...

Be advised, on Clark Road at Skyway,

there's a woman in labor, she's in a beige Honda Pilot.

She's going to be honking her horn.

We have to get this traffic moving, now!

Even a hospital.

All patients now out of Feather River Hospital.

All patients out and en route.

Go get 'em, boys.

Be safe.

It's now 9:30.

Just to the north,

in the neighboring community of Magalia,

George Gold would normally be up by now,

but today he sleeps in.

What woke me up was the wind.

We often have wind here; I think, "Oh, how nice."

I open the door, and it's windy.

I look up, and it's dark.

I thought, "Oh, it's going to rain."

I smell the smoke.

I said, "It's not going to rain."

I get dressed, I go outside, I look around.

At that point, the street wasn't burning.

But I could see fire,

and I thought, "Oh, this is the real thing."

He's lived here for 11 years,

drawn by the quiet and the beauty.

It is his dream home for retirement.

Now he must leave it all behind in a hurry.

Please, get out of town.

And as you're going out of town, please be careful...

But the roads are clogged with traffic and obstacles,

downed power lines, and trees.

Crews are racing to clear the way.

So George decides to wait.

He drives his prized convertible to a nearby parking lot,

hoping it will be safe there.

He records these images

as the fire closes in on his community.

You know, you stand here, and you just look around,

and the next thing, I see that the high school is on fire,

and it is just going up.

Just after noon,

the fire is still raging.

Many of George's neighbors are gathering

in another parking lot,

wondering if they are safe.

I couldn't get in at 9:00.

John Roberson has lived here eight years.

Now, this is kind of spooky.

So that's what I'm looking at.

As you can see, that's black smoke.

Our home right now is safe.

If it jumps up here to South Park Circle and Andover,

it's gone.

Nearby,

Mike and Alice Nutt are packing whatever they can fit

in their cars.

I got soda,

blankets, pillows, food, my animals.

Oh, my dogs.

They're my babies.

And then, I'm, I'm just scared, I am very scared.

We got our cars loaded up, don't know where to go.

6:00 p.m.,

less than 12 hours since it began,

and yet so much damage,

so many lives changed forever.

Oh, my God, half of our town is gone.

55,000 acres burned;

at least 1,000 structures destroyed.

The Nutts' house?

Gone.

And so is the Robersons'.

George Gold is mesmerized

by what is unfolding before his eyes,

but now he knows it's time to get out.

He decides to check on his house.

When I came down here, everything was still burning.

So I came here, turned around,

I shot a couple of pictures, and I took off.