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Wildfires
Posted inLatest News
Wildfire burn areas in California are growing ever larger due to greenhouse gas emissions
Between 1996 and 2020, wildfire burn areas in California grew five times larger than in the 25 years prior. Scientists say climate change is to blame.
Posted inLatest News
California ‘weather whiplash’ fuels uncertainty in upcoming wildfire season
Forecasters say portions of California could get a break this wildfire season, but at lower elevations the outlook is uncertain.
Posted inEnvironment
Wet winter could delay — but not deter — 2023 fire season: ‘We must not let our guard down’
Firefighters in California have already responded to more than 640 wildland fires this year alone, including 135 in the past week.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Only 24 of 911 lost CZU houses rebuilt. Can we please cut the red tape so my neighbors can come home?
Ben Lomond resident Daniel DeLong misses his neighbors. Many lost homes in the CZU fire in 2020 and have struggled with the bureaucracy of rebuilding. Too many, he writes, are giving up, worn out by paperwork and the demands of bureaucrats. For him, the numbers say it all: 911 homes lost, 24 rebuilds. “Look, I know these are just people doing their jobs,” he says of those in charge of approving rebuilds. “They’re checking the boxes that codes and regulations require. … But I also know that bureaucracies don’t always have to be as mindless, as dehumanizing, as soul-crushing.”
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Unsung Santa Cruz: Tonje Switzer’s ‘condoned activism’ helps others through long-term CZU recovery
Bonny Doon resident Tonje Switzer has turned the experience of her home burning down in the CZU fire into a way to help others through post-fire recovery. “Her story,” says one person who knows it, “is one of a clear-eyed motivation to succeed in values-driven work, leaving a trail of people better off, and community better built, in her wake.”
Posted inLatest News
By the numbers: California’s mild 2022 wildfire season
Moderate weather and well-timed rainstorms in much of California combined to curb the acreage and structures burned.
Posted inLatest News
Former PG&E executives agree to $117 million settlement over California wildfires
Former Pacific Gas & Electric executives have reached a settlement agreement in connection with the 2017 North Bay fires and the 2018 Camp fire.
Posted inLatest News
Not even soaking rain can ease fire risk in a California hit by record heat, dry landscape
Though the recent rains have helped tame some active blazes, it’s too soon to say goodbye to this year’s fire season.
Posted inLatest News
‘Starting to look a lot better’: Rain aids Mosquito fire battle, but brings flood, mudflow risk
Recent storms have dampened conditions but have also spurred new vegetation that could act as fuel for fires. And strong…