“When he opens the bedroom window, there’s smoke billowing past his head. The next thing he recalls is waking up outside to a nightmare.”
fire
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Night 17 Million Precious Military Records Went Up in Smoke
“Altogether, 17,517,490 personnel records—the only comprehensive proof of service for all these Americans—had been wiped out of existence.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Wildfire, the Hunter, and a Decade of Conspiracy Theories
“Looking back now, a decade later, the Rim Fire feels like a prelude to disaster — a cleared throat ahead of an End Times scream.”
Posted inReading List
Tragedy in the Making: A Reading List About Unnatural Disasters
A list of stories that dig into the “ingredients” of recent natural hazard-related disasters.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Tree Sleuths
Lauren Markham examines the potential for tree DNA, and the work of experts like tree geneticist Richard Cronn, to help curb the illegal timber trade and poaching of valuable wood like big-leaf maple and black walnut. Could he help Huff’s team determine whether there was a genetic link between the felled trees in the Olympic […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
This Isn’t the California I Married
“The honeymoon’s over for its residents now that wildfires are almost constant. Has living in this natural wonderland lost its magic?”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Breathe In
“It wasn’t until after I returned from Iraq that I found out what all was tossed into those burn pits at The Dump.”
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List, Story
There Are No Seasons: A Reading List on Loss, Love, and Living with Fire in California
Six personal essays about or inspired by wildfire.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Coming Age of Climate Trauma
“What should a mental health response look like in the wake of a climate disaster? How can we better prepare communities for the moment when they are forced to confront climate change?”
Posted inQuotes
Leap of Faith
“The men call up to Sofiane, telling him that he and his brother have to jump. Guelord shouts that the younger boy needs to go first. Sofiane should throw him down.”