Wildfire Destruction

Through the combination of global warming, increased droughts, poor land management, and poor government resource spending; on August 16th 2020 a rare lightning storm rolled through the Santa Cruz Mountains igniting over 300 fires at once.

Cal Fire was severely lacking in resources and man power, we were left on our own, and our neighbors defied evacuation orders and stayed and saved as much of our neighborhood as they could. 925 homes lost.

Thousands of residents were forced to flee as crews struggled to fight fires in rugged terrain. 1000 people are still evacuated, the fire is at 100% containment though is still dangerous with dry weather and dry winds.

Repopulation efforts continue, fire damage has melted roads, power lines, water pipes,and compromised trees making the process slow and complicated. There is a lot of mess to clean up that will take months to complete. Many of our friends have lost everything. Many residents have vowed to rebuild, many will never return. The Empire Grade ridge sustained the most damage, almost every home is burned to ground up there. The area is now unstable, roots burned beneath the ground can cause sinkholes, loose soil will erode and cause slides in the winter, as well  as dried crispy trees will break and fall as the rains begin to fall later this year. This ecosystem is made for fire, the trees will regrow, brush will come back and life will return to these mountains. From the ashes a new forest will grow, but changes in climate with rain fall and further droughts will determine the rate of growth. The trend is clear, these mountains are beginning to dry out and there will be more fires in the years to come.