View of fires from Skyline Blvd, La Honda
Thousands of lightning strikes hit Northern California in a series of remarkable thunderstorms on Sunday, Aug. 16, triggering three massive lightning complex fires that have ravaged over 1.3 million acres and forced more than 136,000 people to evacuate their homes as of Aug. 27, according to Cal Fire. Beneath the billows of smoke coloring California skies, residents must also continue battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Santa Rosa High School junior Tomosuke Yamaguchi resides about three miles southeast of the Walbridge Fire, which has grown to over 55,000 acres with 19% containment. This fire belongs to the LNU Lightning Complex, which is a group of wildfires that has destroyed over 360,000 acres and is at 33% containment, encompassing Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Yolo and Lake counties.
Yamaguchi attended regular swim practices until the air quality became hazardous on Thursday, Aug. 20.
“Starting [on Aug. 18], there was ash raining from the sky, and the smoke was already pretty bad, but it was moderate enough that we could swim outside,” Yamaguchi told the Outlook. “But [on Aug. 19] at swim practice, it was getting pretty hard to breathe. By the end of it, a lot of people were getting pretty choked up. … I can’t see the sky anymore. It’s just gray brown.”
“In the mountains, a lot of people’s houses are built with their own sweat and tears”
Aragon English teacher Sara Kixmoeller evacuated her Felton home on Thursday morning, Aug. 20. By Thursday night, the CZU Lightning Complex had advanced to just three-eighths of a mile from her house. This series of wildfires within San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties has burned over 81,000 acres and is 21% contained.
“The sadness came in seeing the loss in the community and how people that had lived there their entire lives … were losing everything,” Kixmoeller said. “In the mountains, a lot of people’s houses are built with their own sweat and tears.”
Kixmoeller was able to bring important possessions with her when she left. She is now in San Francisco.
“I come from a long line of seamstresses and artists, so I have hand-painted dishes from my great grandma that I was not [leaving] behind,” Kixmoeller said. “I was able to grab things that my grandmother, who’s no longer with us, handmade.”
Brittany Rowden, an incoming freshman at the University of Denver, lives in Redwood Terrace, La Honda, about two and a half miles away from the CZU Lightning Complex. Rowden and her family evacuated their home at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19. They are now in Vallejo with her grandparents.
“When we first got the notice that we could get [an evacuation order], my mom went full into panic packing because my house had burned down in 2012,” Rowden told the Outlook. “We didn’t even have a chance to put on our shoes back then. … [This time], we left before we got the official evacuation order.”
The CZU Lightning Complex wildfires also prompted the evacuation of all residents within Mount Hermon camp and retreat, which is located in the forests of Santa Cruz mountains. As a business unit and Christian organization, Mount Hermon Association typically hosts over 85,000 guests, many of whom are Aragon students, in a normal year without COVID-19 or wildfires. Starting in middle school, Aragon junior Maggie Cayanan has frequented Mount Hermon in the summer and fall yearly.
“[Mount Hermon] has been a really big part of my life because I’ve met so many people I’m close with there. It’s been a really fun place for me to make memories throughout my life,” Cayanan said. “My friends and family have all been praying for Mount Hermon. … Part of me is still in denial that the fires are hitting close to a home away from home.”
Jon Wilcox, Director of Marketing at Mount Hermon camp and retreat, evacuated with his family from their onsite home at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 18. During the day, they noticed the sky had turned orange, and the air smelled strongly of smoke. By night, ash was raining down.
“Get out, get safe”
“I have a daughter with special needs, and the air quality was starting to ramp her up,” Wilcox told the Outlook. “We got to my wife’s family’s house [in Sacramento] a little after midnight.”
Like Kixmoeller, Wilcox acknowledged that many would be devastated if the forest area burned.
“If we lose the facility, I’m confident Mount Hermon will rebuild. But Mount Hermon has 114 years of memories,” Wilcox said. “[For] a lot of people, the ground is sacred to them because it [means] something to their grandparents and great grandparents. … It belongs to them in their hearts.”
During these unpredictable times, timely communication has been crucial to residents’ wellbeing, which was the case for the staff members who lived onsite at Mount Hermon and the hundreds of residents who lived there year-round. Mount Hermon residents received a mandatory evacuation order from Cal Fire at 8 a.m. on Aug. 20.
“The most important thing [was] to make sure that staff was aware of what was going on,” Wilcox said. “Our CEO Mike [Romberger] immediately was communicating with the staff, emailing the moment he got information, and encouraging staff to grab the things at work that [they] need [and to] grab the stuff [they] can. Get out, get safe.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mount Hermon Association made the difficult decision a few weeks ago to cancel all of their fall events. In a typical year, they would be wrapping up their biggest event: the summer family camp.
“In a weird way, this was a huge blessing that we didn’t have to worry about evacuating guests, because that would have been much harder,” Wilcox said.
Wilcox accredits the quick alert and spread of news to efforts led by Mount Hermon Community, an organization that disseminates information to residents. Kixmoeller also believes that the Santa Cruz Fire Department and Sheriff’s Department provided excellent bidaily briefings about the fires.
“California and even the United States in general needs to look at how we respond to disasters”
In contrast, Yamaguchi felt that Sonoma County experienced a lapse in leadership and communication in response to the critical circumstances the area was stricken by.
“Three days after the fires [began], online press releases [came out], but for the first few days, no one knew what was going on, especially in Santa Rosa,” Yamaguchi said. “The county and the departments didn’t release any information to us. There should have been some more immediate communication regarding what was going on, especially when there’s so many lives at stake.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed that at least seven people have died due to the fires. Despite the efforts of more than 15,000 firefighters, some being on 24-hour shifts, Cal Fire has reported that there aren’t enough people and resources to effectively curb the natural disaster from spreading.
“One article [said] that Sonoma County is basically just left to fend for themselves, because there’s so few resources right now,” Yamaguchi said. “There’s really not much we can do, but given that this has happened every year since 2016, there should have been more preparation.”
The shortage of firefighters has been exacerbated by the early releases of prison inmates during the pandemic, as California released around 800 inmate firefighters in the months before the fires. Cal Fire said that the inmates, who are paid just $1 hourly for fighting on the frontlines, are crucial to firefighting operations.
“It’s sad in a lot of ways that we depend on prison labor to fight fires,” Kixmoeller said. “[Whether] it’s more volunteer firefighters or more well trained people that can step in at a moment’s notice … California and even the United States in general needs to look at how we respond to disasters.”
As more residents are forced to evacuate their homes, looting has occurred in both Rowden’s and Kixmoeller’s abandoned communities.
“From what I understand, my house hasn’t been broken into,” Kixmoeller said. “But I hope that the state looks at the causes of why people are looting and the desperate situation [they’re] in right now. … COVID [also] impacts people’s economic situation and makes [them] even more desperate.”
According to USA Today, over 20 million American jobs were lost by May following the pandemic’s outbreak. Furthermore, the IZA Institute of Labor Economics suggests that air pollution inflicts respiratory distress to people’s lungs, making them more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Combined with the lack of social distancing in evacuating communities, virus transmission could be greatly heightened. But the harm of COVID-19 doesn’t end there: it’s also forced many schools to shift to online learning. Several of Yamaguchi’s teachers and classmates weren’t able to attend online classes due to the power outages and evacuation orders in and around Sonoma County.
“A lot of [people in my classes] are from Windsor and Healdsburg … less than a mile from the fire perimeter,” Yamaguchi said. “There’s a bunch of rotating power outages out there.”
“It’s so important [to] do what you can to help your community, because you never know when you’re going to need that help yourself”
Kixmoeller experienced a series of power outages following the Aug. 16 storm, which prevented her from preparing online lessons. Fortunately, she was able to access electricity at a friend’s house. Kixmoeller is very grateful for the outpouring of support she received.
“Not only did my family step up and help me, but the Aragon community has been unbelievable,” Kixmoeller said. “I’m texting Mr. Bravo at random times, on the verge of a breakdown and he’s like, ‘I have your back.’ He got my classes covered. My AVID family, Ms. Garcia and Ms. Thurtle stepped up. It’s so important [to] do what you can to help your community, because you never know when you’re going to need that help yourself.”
