'It made a lot of ash': California lightning fire torches family cabin
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[September 16, 2020]
By Nathan Frandino
BROOKDALE, Calif. (Reuters) - Sandra
Stone's family has been coming for years to the cabin along Clear Creek
in Brookdale, California, that her great-grandparents built in 1907
using redwood for beams and cut glass crystal for windows.
It is now a pile of rubble after the CZU Lightning Complex fire swept
through San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties in mid-August, killing one
person, burning 86,509 acres and destroying nearly 1,500 structures.
"It made a lot of ash," Stone said on Tuesday during her first visit to
the cabin since it was destroyed.
The blaze was one of three massive wildfires in northern California
ignited after about 14,000 lightning strikes during a freakishly intense
storm, and one of dozens across the Pacific Northwest that have scorched
more than 4.5 million acres (1.8 million hectares) since then.
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Burning through towns in Oregon and devouring forests in California,
Washington and Idaho, the fires have thrown up a blanket of ash and
smoke that has made the region's air quality among the worst in the
world. The fires have also thrust climate change to the forefront as an
issue in the U.S. presidential election.
WATCHED SURVEILLANCE VIDEO
Stone watched from her home in Santa Rosa, a 2 1/2-hour drive away, on
surveillance cameras as firefighters drove down the skinny single-lane
road trying to save buildings.
"We would go from thinking it was gone for sure to being hopeful that it
was still here," Stone said as she walked past a creek filled with
charred debris, twisted bed frames and a clawfoot tub turned upside down
with one of its feet missing.
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![](../images/091620pics/news_c7.jpg)
A saved home stands next door to the remains of Sandra Stone's
family cabin, which was destroyed by the CZU Lightning Complex fire,
in Brookdale, California, U.S., September 15, 2020. REUTERS/Nathan
Frandino
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It took about two weeks for Stone to prepare for seeing the cabin in
person.
"My reaction actually started further down the road with the rest of
the residences that were no longer, and it made me really sad
because I can picture them here and now I can picture them gone,"
Stone said.
She said her daughters want to rebuild, but she has no idea how long
that would take. Behind the house, loose dirt and downed trees cover
a steep incline, raising concerns of erosion.
"Everything that's important is still here," she said, sounding
hopeful. "The trees are still here. The creek is still here. And
it'll be beautiful again in no time."
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino; editing by Bill Tarrant and Gerry
Doyle)
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