Paradise, Calif., Water Is Contaminated But Residents Are Moving Back Anyway
Despite public health warnings about benzene contamination in the town's water supply, some Paradise residents say they have no choice but to return.
Six months after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, the town of Paradise remains a disaster zone. Only 6 percent of the debris from last November's Camp Fire has been hauled away. Burned out skeletons of cars, piles of toxic rubble and blackened old-growth pine trees can still be seen everywhere.
Before the wildfire, the population of Paradise was about 26,000. Today, it's in the hundreds.
The extent of the latest crisis unfolding in Paradise is yet unknown: The deadly fire may also have contaminated up to 173 miles of pipeline in the town's water system with cancer-causing benzene
