California Wildfires

California’s early outbreak of major fires means its neighbors can’t send much aid because they’re ablaze, too.

This guide is part of our “Older and overlooked” series on the danger wildfires pose to California’s older population, especially during COVID-19. Skip straight to: How to research a care home The questions experts recommend asking The coronavirus pandemic is a sudden, new threat to assisted living and skilled nursing homes — and those facilities […]

When the ominous beep of an emergency alert roused Mark and Kathy Allen out of bed in Sebastopol on Oct. 9, 2017, the Tubbs Fire was heading toward Santa Rosa.  So the Allens did too. They knew the assisted living facility where Mark’s mother lived was in the path of fast-moving flames. They sped toward […]

The average age of those who died in the 2018 Camp Fire was 72. The average age of those who died in the fires that burned across Sonoma and Napa a year before: 73. As wildfires grow more devastating in California, some of the most vulnerable are older people who live independently and who live […]

| See how wildfires endanger older Californians — and it’s getting worse Climate change and COVID-19 are disasters. Long-term care homes and seniors may not be ready. By Lo Bénichou; Molly Peterson; Lisa Pickoff-White August 10, 2020 California is aging faster than the rest of the country. In 10 years, the state projects the number […]

Fewer inmates are available for hand crews so the state is filling the gap. So far, slightly more acreage has burned this year than last year.

California's last juvenile fire camp could close due to state budget cuts. Though critics question putting young inmates in danger for as little as $1 an hour, supporters say it's one of the few proven models for rehabilitation.

State officials said that California isn’t backing away from prioritizing environmental protections, but that the harsh realities of the economic meltdown require difficult compromises.