The Camp Fire, near Chico, is about 600 miles from the fires in the LA area. Paradise seems to have been a place people went to retire, as well as having longer-term residents. Access to many homes is not great - dirt/gravel roads over which one must travel slowly. So many who died lived in more remote areas or were elderly.
I've been following news about the Camp Fire some because my older daughter had friends at the Youth With A Mission base that is sort of between Paradise and Chico. The fire was blown in another direction, thankfully. Also, a classmate from high school is a retired nurse and her church was used as an evacuation center, she was volunteering there.
The worrisome thing about that fire, long term, is that that area is part of the watershed for Lake Oroville, whose dam was the one that was seriously damaged back in early 2017. The burned over area won't slow rain run-off the way other areas will, and if this winter is rainy that dam could be stressed (hopefully it's been repaired!).
BTW, I've heard of Texas fire departments sending personnel and equipment to help fight fires in CA. Doubtless other states have too. If you know someone who came to help, please relay my thanks. I'm not affected directly, but it seems like everybody I know has family or friends affected by the fires (e.g. the sister of a runner friend lived in Paradise and is a member of the church where my friend was volunteering).