Personal Stories

“How are you being personally impacted by the wildfires?”

“Is it headed my way?” “Is my family safe?” “Should we evacuate?” “How many people do we know who lost their homes?” “Where are the flames?” Those are the questions that run through your mind in the midst of a firestorm. Stuck between two major conflagrations — the Hill Fire on my west less than a mile away, and the Wooolsey Fire to my southeast — at one point, a new fire, the Lynn Fire, was throwing smoke and being blown directly towards my house. “It’s not climate change” they say. “It’s bad forest management” (there are no forests here). This is my new normal, our new normal. Less than a year after the Thomas Fire leveled the homes of my friends and acquaintances in Ojai, Ventura, and Santa Barbara, followed by unspeakable tragedy due to the Montecito mud flows, it’s a situation played out again and again. Massive fires across the west, “100 year storms” dumping rain across the Midwest and the East; mind numbing hurricane damage from Hurricane Michael in Florida, and Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas; a summer of flash flooding across Europe and the Middle East; the biggest typhoon ever to hit the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands. It just doesn’t stop. The fact that it’s my hillside burning, those in my neighborhood losing their homes to flames–that my house could be next–just drives home that we are poorly prepared for a hotter, drier, more extreme climate. What does the future hold? How much worse can it bet? What will next year look like, and will we burn then? It’s unspeakable tragedy and loss in Paradise, it’s the apocalyptic vision of what, indeed, scientists have predicted will happen. It’s all too terrible to process.

— Ben Kuo, Newbury Park

Our air quality has ranged from 150-250ppm since the fire started. Our normal is between 10 and 25. We could not go outside the first couple days and shouldn’t even now. We live over 100 miles from the fire!

— Martha, Martinez 

Not being able to go outside and enjoy one good day without gloom or smoke in the sky has been impactful to me on a daily basis since these fires started. Homeless people outside are being given masks to protect their lungs since they are among those predominantly affected by these fires. People with lung disease are putting up warning videos on the internet about the safety and health risks posed by detrimental smoke inhalation. I myself have not been outside for a simple walk, for a jog to let off some steam, for a bike ride. Outdoors activities seem to be at a haunt and I now have to take a trip to a local fire department for a face mask to prevent particulate matter from affecting my respiratory system. All masks have been sold out locally and so I’m hoping to be able to get a hold of one as soon as possible. It’s terrible, it feels like the end of the world and I wish it would stop. How much longer before greedy politicians see that this is not the fault of the forest department, but due to declining climate conditions due to global warming brought on by excessive CO2 emissions.

— Natalie, Northern CA