PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — The sky was turning orange and the embers were flying from the Camp Fire when Oney and Donna Carrell and Donna's father sped away from their Paradise home.

"I thought, 'Oh, well, the house is done,'" Oney Carrell said.

A few days later, they learned otherwise. The Carrells' home survived the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history with a couple of warped window frames, a partially charred down spout and a stubborn smoky smell inside.

Most of their neighborhood was destroyed. A guest house in their backyard, where Donna's father lived, was reduced t...