this summer the golden state turned
apocalyptic
a whole convoy of cars like speeding and
these are twisty
mountain roads flashing their light
honking and like waving go back
asha and her friends had a narrow escape
from the california wildfires
the smoke has followed us over the ridge
but we're almost out they were lucky to
have returned safely after walking 13
miles on foot
but some were left with a permanent scar
by the time i got there
it was a little more than smoldering
rubble
carrying a local journalist in berry
creek had to cover her father's store
burning down
but it was only the second time i had
ever heard him cry before
i did not think he would be able to
handle it quite as well as he's able to
handle most of life's obstacles
wildfires are not new to california why
is this year
unprecedented you know it is about
forest management please remember the
words very simple
forest management but is it just about
managing the forests
native americans have always harnessed
fires to keep forests strong
a healthy fire takes out weak and dead
trees and returns nutrients to the soil
but a century of misguided fire
suppression policy in the u.s
means dry fuel has been piling up what
we end up with are
90 years of build up on top of climate
change that is now catalyzing this
process they are
creating a tinderbox and we're seeing
actually different climate change domino
chains
happening all at the same time in
california we had one of the longest
droughts
this caused a massive tree mortality
throughout the state
at the same time we're having
unprecedented heat waves
those heat waves then caused lightning
strikes we had over 14 000 lightning
strikes in 24 hours
that ignited 900 fires now we're only at
the start of the fire season
and californians face a long-term impact
now that
the state has rebounded from the second
spike of kovid
we are now facing this um
abysmal air quality issue that will
impact
our state's economy of workers
folks that are unemployed on top of the
pandemic
everybody's emotional health is so low
and you know that finally the thought
crossed my mind and my husband's mind um
is this really sustainable long term
like many californians carrie and her
family are fearful for the future
two years ago i thought oh that this is
the one time i'll ever have to cover
anything this tragic and here i am now
and i'm feeling it a lot more personally
because
my family has been directly affected by
this fire
but not everyone can afford to leave not
everyone
can uproot they may have lost their
homes but this is still
the place where they're earning an
income to be able to support themselves
and potentially those
they love
you