Paradise after "a tidal wave of fire" from Camp Fire

PARADISE, Calif. (KGO) -- We have heard from many fire victims and evacuees in the last few days.

All want to go home.

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Most wonder why, more than a week after their homes burned, the roadblocks remain.

If they were to actually enter the burn zone, they might understand why.

"I am going to call this more like a tsunami. A tidal wave of fire," said Captain Rich Crawford, who works as a PIO for Cal Fire.

We found him while taking a careful drive around the Paradise no one ever imagined, or can even comprehend when they see it, first-hand.

MAPS: A look at the Camp Fire in Butte County and other California fires

"It was amazing to see everything just gone," said Chris Flores.

Flores spent today replacing burned, fallen, and broken traffic lights and signals. He had put up two when we found him, with 12 more to go, and then a city beyond that.

The hazards are everywhere, from trees that could fall at any moment, to downed wires, toxic burn sites.

And, some 600 people remain unaccounted for as the search for human remains continues block by block.

The yellow tags? Those are good news. "It means the property has been searched," said Captain Crawford.

All part of a painstaking process still in its beginning phases.

Paradise is no place yet, for the uninitiated.

See more stories, photos and videos on the Camp Fire in Butte County.