California’s 2018 Camp Fire Recreated in Matthew McConaughey’s “The Lost Bus”

Apple’s new film, “The Lost Bus,” brings the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, to the big screen. The movie dramatizes how extreme weather conditions—drought, high winds, and dry vegetation—combined to create California’s deadliest wildfire.

Starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera, the film follows a school bus driver and teacher who risked everything to save 22 children. It opens in theaters Friday, Sept. 19, and will stream on Apple TV+ starting Oct. 3.

The Weather Behind the Fire

The Camp Fire ignited on Nov. 8, 2018, when a PG&E transmission line failed amid dangerously dry conditions. Butte County had gone over 200 days without half an inch of rain, leaving grasses and shrubs as tinder for flames.