Steve Caput, a paramedic, has been working at East Avenue Church which opened its doors to Camp Fire evacuees. When the fire broke out, Caput was one of the first, first-responders on scene, rescuing people from Paradise and bringing them down the hill to Chico. After his shift, and during any downtime since then, Caput has been donating his time, working at the impromptu evacuation center and making sure people have their medical needs met.

Generators hum in the background, providing extra power to the church to help care for evacuees as he tells his story, in his own words.

Josh Cozine can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.