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Burning
Although I was born in the Midwest, spent much of my childhood in Iowa, and have lived in San Francisco for nearly 18 years now, I consider my hometown to be Santa Rosa, California, where my family moved when I was 13. It's where I went to junior high and high school, the city where my parents still live, and the place both my brothers went back to when it was time to go home.
And I've spent the last three days watching it burn.
There are almost a dozen active fires burning in the North Bay and Wine Country right now, with more than a hundred thousand acres total already burned. As of today, the death toll is 23, and likely to rise. Thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed, and many of those are homes in northern Santa Rosa. Two entire neighborhoods (Coffey Park and Fountaingrove) are just gone. The pictures are devastating. More areas -- neighborhoods of Santa Rosa and Napa, whole towns in other parts of the North Bay -- are being evacuated as firefighters do their best just to hold the line.
Thankfully, my family is all okay for now. My brother D was in the first wave of evacuations; he's staying at my parents' place for the time being. One of my cousins also evacuated from the nearby town of Healdsburg, although in her case it wasn't mandatory, just a precaution; she's with her sister and her dad. Everyone is reported to be safe and comfortable, and most likely out of the path of the fires, but with fire you never know. That's the scary thing about fire: it's so unpredictable. You never know when a firestorm is going to take an abrupt turn, or jump a line. My high school friends and acquaintances are also all safe, as far as I know, although at least one lost her home, as have the parents of several others. My parents' friends are also suffering losses, and my cousins' co-workers, and so very many others. And it's not over, and all anyone can do is sit and watch.
What happened? It'll likely be awhile before the cause is known for sure, but basically it's a perfect storm of factors. Five years of drought dried the forests out; then our last winter was unusually rainy, which encouraged the growth of lots of underbrush. Now we're approaching the end of the dry season, and all that tinder was ready and waiting to light up. Sunday night brought unusually high winds (70+ MPH gusts in some places), and some power lines likely went down. We call these conditions "fire weather" for a good reason. Downed power lines spark, sparks hit tinder, tinder goes up, wind whips tinder into a fiery inferno. It happens every year, but rarely to such devastating effect.
Meanwhile, the smoke is drifting down to the Bay Area, and that's wreaking havoc on air quality. I took this picture from my office today. Half the time, I step out of a building and it smells like I'm in a campground. It's messing with my sinuses and burning my eyes, and I don't even have issues with breathing.
We're all going to be dealing with this disaster for awhile, not just while the fires are burning but in the painful and difficult rebuilding afterwards. Some of these neighborhoods will never be the same. Thousands of people will have lost everything. Santa Rosa was already in a housing crisis; I have to imagine this will just make it worse. Unless everyone just leaves, which would be a very different sort of tragedy. I've never had a natural disaster hit quite this close to home before, and it's scary. I wish I knew what would happen next.
If you're interested in following the story, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat has a page that they're keeping updated. Good stories, pictures, and information. And if you're affected and want to talk about it, hit me up.
And I've spent the last three days watching it burn.
There are almost a dozen active fires burning in the North Bay and Wine Country right now, with more than a hundred thousand acres total already burned. As of today, the death toll is 23, and likely to rise. Thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed, and many of those are homes in northern Santa Rosa. Two entire neighborhoods (Coffey Park and Fountaingrove) are just gone. The pictures are devastating. More areas -- neighborhoods of Santa Rosa and Napa, whole towns in other parts of the North Bay -- are being evacuated as firefighters do their best just to hold the line.
Thankfully, my family is all okay for now. My brother D was in the first wave of evacuations; he's staying at my parents' place for the time being. One of my cousins also evacuated from the nearby town of Healdsburg, although in her case it wasn't mandatory, just a precaution; she's with her sister and her dad. Everyone is reported to be safe and comfortable, and most likely out of the path of the fires, but with fire you never know. That's the scary thing about fire: it's so unpredictable. You never know when a firestorm is going to take an abrupt turn, or jump a line. My high school friends and acquaintances are also all safe, as far as I know, although at least one lost her home, as have the parents of several others. My parents' friends are also suffering losses, and my cousins' co-workers, and so very many others. And it's not over, and all anyone can do is sit and watch.
What happened? It'll likely be awhile before the cause is known for sure, but basically it's a perfect storm of factors. Five years of drought dried the forests out; then our last winter was unusually rainy, which encouraged the growth of lots of underbrush. Now we're approaching the end of the dry season, and all that tinder was ready and waiting to light up. Sunday night brought unusually high winds (70+ MPH gusts in some places), and some power lines likely went down. We call these conditions "fire weather" for a good reason. Downed power lines spark, sparks hit tinder, tinder goes up, wind whips tinder into a fiery inferno. It happens every year, but rarely to such devastating effect.
Meanwhile, the smoke is drifting down to the Bay Area, and that's wreaking havoc on air quality. I took this picture from my office today. Half the time, I step out of a building and it smells like I'm in a campground. It's messing with my sinuses and burning my eyes, and I don't even have issues with breathing.
We're all going to be dealing with this disaster for awhile, not just while the fires are burning but in the painful and difficult rebuilding afterwards. Some of these neighborhoods will never be the same. Thousands of people will have lost everything. Santa Rosa was already in a housing crisis; I have to imagine this will just make it worse. Unless everyone just leaves, which would be a very different sort of tragedy. I've never had a natural disaster hit quite this close to home before, and it's scary. I wish I knew what would happen next.
If you're interested in following the story, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat has a page that they're keeping updated. Good stories, pictures, and information. And if you're affected and want to talk about it, hit me up.
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Thinking of you all.
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I'll keep yours in my thoughts. This is so terrifying.
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I am so glad your family is safe.