When the Camp Fire sparked from downed transmission lines in 2018, it changed Paradise forever.

The flames sprinted through the Butte County town, sending some residents fleeing and trapping others in what would become California’s deadliest wildfire. By the time the blaze was extinguished, the Camp Fire had burned more than 150,000 acres, destroyed almost 19,000 homes and killed 85 people.

Armed with garden hoses and grit, Brad Weldon, a fifth-generation Paradise resident, was one of the few who kept the flames at bay. And as the smoke cleared, he welcomed more than 20 displaced neighbors to his property, creating a makeshift, multigenerational community that forged strong bonds and faced tough conflicts.

That community is the subject of a new documentary, “Stray Embers,” screening at 4 p.m. on May 31 at the Vogue Theatre in San Francisco as part of SF DocFest, co-presented by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Chronicle reporter Megan Fan Munce will host a special post-screening Q&A with filmmakers Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin. Get your tickets today.

Brethauer and Hussin, who co-directed the Chronicle’s first feature-length documentary, “Last Men Standing,” about eight survivors of the AIDS crisis, first went to Paradise in the aftermath of the Camp Fire in 2018 to produce a short film for the Guardian. 

But after meeting Weldon, they were drawn deeper into the community as residents navigated emerging from disaster and moving forward.

“We felt like we were experiencing an essential element of human survival in the face of unfathomable destruction. So, we kept coming back,” said Brethauer. “What began as a short project slowly grew into something longer, shaped by the pace of recovery rather than by deadlines.” 

Brethauer and Hussin ultimately spent five years documenting Paradise and Weldon’s household of displaced residents for “Stray Embers.” 

“We’ve acted as journalists in crisis situations in the past, and we wanted to treat this story differently,” Hussin said. “We often would leave as soon as the height of a crisis had passed, but we wanted to know what it would be like if we didn’t leave. How does the story unfold even after all the journalists and documentary filmmakers have left? What we found is a more timeless, universal story of the deep need for human connection and the limits of individualism.”

The screening is part of the 25th SF DocFest, running from May 28 to June 7 at the Roxie and Vogue theaters and sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle. For the full film lineup and more details, visit https://sfdocfest2026.eventive.org/welcome. 

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