x
Breaking News
More () »

9NEWS crew that covered Camp Fire: 'nothing can prepare you'

9NEWS photojournalist Bryan Wendland just returned from California where he was assisting our sister in their coverage of the Camp Fire. He shares what he saw firsthand during this work there.

KUSA — Firefighters and rescue crews continue to sift through the damage of what's left of Paradise, California.

The Camp Fire burned most of the town and killed at least 48 people as of Tuesday night, 100 others are still missing. The fire has burned more than 125,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,000 homes. What's left is almost unrecognizable for the 27,000 people who called Paradise home.

9NEWS photojournalist Bryan Wendland returned to Denver early Monday morning from helping our sister station cover the wildfire and described what it was like on the ground.

Q: How is it different being on the ground than the coverage people see on TV?

A: "You'd think that it's not different because you see the images of Paradise and you see the destroyed homes and the melted cars. Nothing can prepare you. When they say that town was destroyed, it really was."

Q: What was the attitude of the people who live there?

A: "I'll never forget being at Wendy's editing one of our stories and kind of just hearing people talk to their friends and family at the table next to us about losing their homes. They were joking about it and making light of it. They were so calm. I couldn't imagine what I would do in that situation but that stuck out to me, like, how calm everyone seemed and how OK they were. I guess it's one of those things where they made it out and their home's gone, but they're still there."

Q: What was it like driving on the roads through the wildfire area?

A: "It's just weird because I've never seen anything like that. There's smoke all around you. Even though you're inside the car, you can still smell it. It was getting in your nose. At first, you see the trees burned down and the grass on the sides of the highway burned. Then when you get into the, like, actual populated center of Paradise, everything is -- everything is gone."

Q: What did the fire sound like?

A: "It's like a campfire multiplied by 100. It's crackling, popping, there's whining coming out of it. If the right conditions exist and a whole branch or part of tree goes on fire, you get this crazy whoosh. The sound of the fire is one thing I'm not going to forget. I can't imagine what it would've been like in Paradise when that fire came at them. We were hearing people saying the fire was moving at 70 miles an hour. The public information officer we talked to said that he's been at the front line of fires like that before and when a fire is moving that fast, it sounds like a jet engine."

9NEWS reporter Katie Eastman covered the Camp Fire with Bryan. You can watch their stories below.

Before You Leave, Check This Out