On the ground, firefighters moved in exhausted rotations, faces streaked with soot, refusing to stop while any building still stood at risk. Volunteers brought water, blankets, and phone chargers to those evacuated with nothing but the clothes they wore. Authorities promised answers about the cause, but for now, the city’s focus remained painfully simple: account for every life, shelter every displaced family, and somehow, by morning, prove that the community was stronger than the flames that tried to break it.
