Mcconaughey starring in film about Paradise fire

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico is standing in for California in a new film as Jamie Lee Curtis’ production company and others tell the story of a bus driver and a school teacher who rescued students during the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history.

The 2018 blaze killed 85 people and nearly erased the community of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Some residents have returned to help make something new, while others are still haunted by their memories.

Curtis was among those marking the five-year anniversary in November when she posted on social media about the bravery of Paradise residents and the heroic first-responders.

She said she was proud to be producing a film based on the stories in Lizzie Johnson’s novel: “Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire.”

Filming for “The Lost Bus” is underway in and around Santa Fe and Española and in Ruidoso, where a downed power line sparked a 2022 deadly fire.

Wildfires in the West have become more volatile amid drier and hotter conditions that have been exacerbated by the effects of climate change.

The film will star Matthew Mcconaughey and America Ferrera under the direction of Paul Greengrass. Emmy Award winner Brad Ingelsby, Greg Goodman and Jason Blum’s production company Blumhouse will join Curtis’ Comet Pictures in producing the film.

“The Lost Bus” will focus on bus driver Kevin Mckay and teacher Mary Ludwig, who helped navigate a bus full of children through the deadly wildfire.

In 2018, Marc Kessler, a Paradise Unified School District middle school teacher, told The Associated Press he arrived at work to see smoke plumes grow uncomfortably near.

Teachers, aides and bus drivers loaded more than 100 students into cars and school buses and drove hours through smoke and flames to safely reunite the children with their families, he said.