California California Wildfires

California Wildfires

Creek Fire update: Here’s when major Fresno-area fires will be fully contained

By

Manuela Tobias

• November 2, 2020

West Sacramento firefighters battle the Camp Fire on Honey Run Road in Paradise on Nov. 9, 2018. Photo by Ray Chavez, Bay Area News Group

California Wildfires

Two years after Paradise burned, the focus is on prevention, rebuilding

At a CalMatters virtual event, people in Paradise and fire experts recalled the terror that gripped the town and discussed rebuilding and resiliency in California.

By

James Bikales

• October 21, 2020

one of the 1,555 structures the Glass Fire left in its path of destruction. Photo by Marco Torrez

California Wildfires

How to vote in a pandemic when you’ve lost your home in a wildfire

Lea este artículo en español. In August, as lightning strikes ignited fires around his Napa County home, Ian MacMillan escaped the flames with his wife, three kids and mother-in-law. A month later, when another wildfire roared through Northern California’s wine country, they had to flee their home again. “It sounded like a war zone,” MacMillan, […]

By

Isabella Bloom

and

Marco Torrez

• October 21, 2020

Saxon Stahl, a fourth year student at UC Santa Cruz, stands in the woods across from their residence hall on Oct. 14, 2020. The heavily wooded campus had a mandatory evacuation for more than a week during the CZN Lightening Complex fires in August. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

Higher Education

Is your college in a severe wildfire zone?

Of California’s nearly 150 public colleges and universities, 18 are within areas Cal Fire deems at high risk from wildfires. In addition to evacuation plans, colleges have different fire mitigation tactics they can employ to minimize risk.

By

Mikhail Zinshteyn

and

Erica Yee

• October 15, 2020

Taylor Craig stands for a portrait on the edge of his family’s property outside of Vacaville on Oct. 2, 2020. Charred trees and ground on the adjoining property were caused by the LNU Lightening Complex Fire in August; Craig was able to fight off the flames and protect his home from the fire after not receiving an evacuation warning. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters

California Wildfires

‘Totally inadequate’: Most Californians in wildfire-prone counties aren’t signed up for emergency alerts

The systems that warn people about evacuations have dangerous drawbacks. Millions of Californians are relying on alerts that may never arrive. In some counties, only 1% of adults are signed up.

By

James Bikales

• October 7, 2020