BY ROSE L. THAYER STARS AND STRIPES
PFC Secily Chapman recalled how the Camp Fire destroyed her childhood home in Paradise, Calif. It seemed to happen in an instant, the National Guard member said.
Her family received no evacuation order, no warning calls, no indication that told them to get out.
A text from a friend warned the family of four that fire was moving closer. By morning, Chapman said she was preparing to drive to her college classes when the sky turned black and ash began to rain down.
“We got a couple family photos, a bag of clothes, a couple other little knickknacks and then we took our dogs and we left,” she said recently, looking back on the day nearly three years ago.
It was more than a month before the family would return to find their home in ruins from the fire, which caused 85 deaths and turned the entire town of Paradise to rubble. It was the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history.
For some time, Chapman said she fell into a deep depression and the fire put her entire life on pause.
“[Fire] destroyed my life. Instead of letting it take me down that entire road, it led me to the National Guard,” said Chapman, now 22. “I have a new perspective on it, and I don’t feel as helpless. I feel like I have power behind me to help others.”
She knew the Guard had played a role supporting the community during and after the Camp Fire, and she liked the idea that she could help. Joining the Guard also could assist her future ambition to become a police officer, she said.
Chapman enlisted last year to serve with the military police, and two weeks ago deployed to her first mission — securing roads in the town of Greenville, a near total loss after the Dixie Fire burned through the community earlier this month.
