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Title : Documenting the remains: the wildfire of California
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Documenting the remains: the wildfire of California

[Susan Cornelis in Northern California] On the night of October 8th, fueled by high winds and dry conditions, a string of firestorms raged through our communities north of the San Francisco Bay area. I woke in the middle of the night to see the horizon in flames and later learned that in our county of Sonoma 23 had died, 5100 homes had been burned to the ground, along with 37,000 acres of land. Since that time this fire, named the Tubbs Fire, has become known as the deadliest wildfire disaster in California history.

In an effort to deal personally with the tragedy and to join people in the community in mourning and support, I joined some sketch friends to find ways to report on the stories as they unfolded. The air was thick with toxic smoke in the areas which burned for days, so we headed out to the redwoods to the camp where firefighting teams from all over the state were being housed between shifts. Driving out country roads there were frequent reminders of the gratitude felt by this community for these first responders who were the undisputed heroes of the day. Signs were posted on most properties with bright Thank You Firefighters messages.

While sitting in the parking lot we saw men as they came back from grueling 24 hours shifts of firefighting. Although most of the firefighters were young men, Tony was a 75-year-old volunteer firefighter from the mountains of California, seeking a few minutes rest in the cab of his truck. Like many of the men he had responded quickly to the call for help, driven from his small community a distance away, headed straight for the fires to be dispatched and gone 60 hours without sleep. This was the kind of story we heard repeatedly.



The Sonoma County fairgrounds became the Fire Rescue Headquarters where firefighters and military set up a tent city during the weeks of disaster management that ensued. At one point ten percent of the population was evacuated and evacuation centers were opened in every town, including those for animals. Donations and volunteers wanting to help poured in at such an astounding rate that soon they were being turned away. Everyone in the county shared the distress. Our own home was not touched by the fire, but our car sat in the driveway, packed and ready to go should the fire reach us.



When the smoke and ash cleared enough we visited some of the burn areas. Anova, a school for children with learning differences, had burned and a hazardous materials team was cleaning and removing loose debris. School was temporarily suspended while they awaited portable classrooms to be erected in the parking lot. I couldn’t help noticing the clean white fire hydrant that stood untouched next to the property it was to be used to protect. The fire came through with such force and speed that the usual firefighting methods were abandoned.



I switched to gray toned paper to capture the burnt out landscapes we were visiting. Rubber was melted off tires, steel girders collapsed or bent, while on the same property, there would be trees retaining full foliage. Across the street roses were blooming, and farther down, beautiful homes untouched by the flames. We were learning about the unpredictable vagaries of fire. There was no sense to make of it in the bright light of a sunlit day. Pink ribbons flapped in the breeze on mailboxes indicating that a hazardous waste inspection had been done.



The Round Barn stood on the hillside in Santa Rosa for 119 years before it burned in the Tubbs fire. I wanted to pay homage to it with a sketch, but all that was left on the blackened hillside was a small, leafless tree, piles of rusty nails and bolts, and this cement bench with the blackened wood back. Meanwhile just days after the fire, green shoots of grass, bright and vibrant, were already beginning to lend a healthy glow to the hillside. A walk on the burnt hillside restored my vision of nature as flexible, yielding to disaster, bending and springing back so ardently on this hillside meadow where an old wooden barn burned to the ground. Who knows what flowers will decorate the hillside this winter and spring?



The barbeques were the most likely survivors of the firestorm. Along with brick chimneys they seem to have taken fire in their stride. It’s over a month since we started sketching the story of the fire. We have not found answers to questions like why did the fire stop in this mobile home park before crossing the street, and how did it become so fierce that it burned 1,000 homes in one neighborhood in one night, driving residents to flee for their lives with little or no warning? The stories we’ve heard have touched our hearts profoundly and our reportage will continue for many months to come as we watch the unfolding of a spirited and hopeful resurrection of our communities.


A self-portrait during the time when we were all wearing masks outside.

Susan Cornelis is an urban sketcher, mixed media painter and workshop teacher in the San Francisco Bay area in California. You can see more of her sketches on her blog.

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