California Wildfires 2020 - Sara Gobets / Photojournalist

California Wildfires 2020

Boulder Creek local Brian Garrahan tends to the fire break he cut into the hillside on West Park Avenue in Boulder Creek, Ca on Aug. 21, 2020. Garrahan noticed the encrouching fire from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire above his neighborhood earlier in the day and proceeded to shovel an approximately 4 foot by 400 yard path between the flames and the houses below. Multiple fire agencies came to check on him throughout the day.

A Cal Fire firefighter sprays down the hillside above Highway 9 just north of Boulder Creek on Aug. 23, 2020. So far the fire crews have been able to contain the CZU Lightning Complex Fire to the west side of the main road that runs through the San Lorenzo Valley.

The CZU Lightning Complex Fire claims a carport and trailer in the Trade Winds neighborhood of Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020.

Boulder Creek local Brian Garrahan attempts to break up the planks of a burning fence and throw them away from his neighbor’s house on West Park Avenue on Aug. 21, 2020. Photo by Sara Gobets

A blaze from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire makes its way down through the IOOF cemetary above the Boulder Creek Elementary School in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020. Fire crews dug a fire line around the school and set a back burn to try and prevent the blaze from reaching the nearby houses and educational institution.

Barstow firefighters battle a structure blaze caused by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on West Park Avenue on Aug. 21, 2020. Photo by Sara Gobets

A Cal Fire firefighter sprays down the hillside above Highway 9 just north of Boulder Creek on Aug. 23, 2020. So far the fire crews have been able to contain the CZU Lightning Complex Fire to the west side of the main road that runs through the San Lorenzo Valley.

An exposed gas line keeps a steady blaze from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire going next to a destroyed car on Madrone Avenue in Boulder Creek on Aug 23, 2020.

A house in the Trade Winds neighborhood of Boulder Creekis destroyed by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Aug. 22, 2020.

A blaze from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire makes its way down through the IOOF cemetary above the Boulder Creek Elementary School in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020. Fire crews dug a fire line around the school and set a back burn to try and prevent the blaze from reaching the nearby houses and educational institution.

The CZU Lightning Complex Fire rolls down the hillside and threatens properties on West Park Avenue in Boulder Creek on Aug. 21, 2020. Photo by Sara Gobets

Flames from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire reach the road on West Park Avenue in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020. So far the fire has been contained to one side of the neighborhood. Fire crews set up a base at the end of the road to monitor the fire at multiple spots on the avenue.

Professional tree removal specialist Joe Sunderland fells a 175-foot tree above Highway 9 in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020. The fire crews had been worried if the tree fell over on its own, it might fall across the highway and therefore create a bridge for the fire to cross.

A firefighter doses Joe Sunderland with welcome water to wash off the saw dust accumulated from felling a tree for the fire department in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020. The fire crews had been worried if the tree fell over on its own, it might fall across the highway and therefore create a bridge for the fire to cross.

Jacob Kellner shovels fallen hot rocks back onto the other side of the Smith Grade, maintaining the fire break to defend the Boony Doon area from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Aug. 24, 2020. Kellner is part of a neighborhood that has banded together and stayed behind in an evacuation zone to defend their homes against the fire.

Tree service professional and Bonny Doon resident Josh Hoag takes a break after chopping up brush and small trees at the edge of a fire break on Smith Grade on Aug. 24, 2020. Hoag is part of a group of residents that has stayed behind the evacuation lines to defend the homes in the rural area from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

Tree service professional and Bonny Doon resident Josh Hoag monitors the edge of a fire break on Smith Grade on Aug. 24, 2020. Hoag is part of a group of residents that has stayed behind the evacuation lines to defend the homes in the rural area from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

Redwoods on fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains as a result of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Aug. 21, 2020. Photo by Sara Gobets

A home on West Park Avenue still smolders after catching ablaze in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire the night before on Aug. 22, 2020.

A melted basketball hoop still stands in the driveway of a home on Acorn Drive in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020. The house was destroyed by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire.

Remnants of homes in the Nob Hill area of Acorn Drive in Boulder Creek still smolder from the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Aug. 22, 2020.

Dave Clarke surveys the CZU Lightning Complex Fire damage at a friend’s property up in the Nob Hill area of Acorn Drive in Boulder Creek on Aug. 22, 2020.

An untouched ranch house seen through the charred remains of a tree on Pine Canyon Road in Salinas on Aug. 25, 2020.

Masked workers pull tarps up from raspberry fields in Salinas in front of a burnt Mount Toro on Aug. 25, 2020.

Smoke from a hot spot in the dwindling River Fire can be seen over vineyards on River Road in Salinas, Aug. 25, 2020.

Fire redardant material covers a saved property in the Sky Ranch community in Carmel Valley affected by the Carmel Fire on Aug. 25, 2020.

Ron Hanik talks about evacuating his home during the Carmel Fire at Sky Ranch, Carmel Valley on Aug. 25, 2020.

The charred hillside can be seen from the remains of a home affected by the Carmel Fire at Sky Ranch, Carmel Valley on Aug. 25, 2020.

A burnt fire house near the remains of a home at Sky Ranch, Carmel Valley on Aug. 25, 2020.

The remains of a home affected by the Carmel Fire at Sky Ranch, Carmel Valley on Aug. 25, 2020.

Allegra Keller holds her 20-month-old son Cristian as she walks through the wreckage of their home on Last Chance Road in Davenport on Sept. 11, 2020. Allegra Keller’s husband Geoffrey Keller is a Cal Fire fighter and was on duty when she got the call to evacuate. His captain let him off the shift and he raced to meet her. They grabbed their things and left behind the small cabin he built for them when they married in 2017.

Cal Fire fighter Geoffrey Keller’s old county fire helmet and emergency fire shelter sit in the remains of his driveway on Last Chance Road in Davenport on Sept. 11, 2020. The 29-year-old was battling a fire when he received a frantic call from his wife that she was going to evacuate. His captain let him off the shift and he raced to meet her. They grabbed their things and left behind the small cabin he built for them when they married in 2017.

Bryce Bamber from Left Coast Land Clearing uses a masticator to chew up overgrown trees through a section of Bear Creek Road in Boulder Creek on Aug. 27, 2020. This kind of preventative work is crucial in managing future wildfires.

Cal Fire Deputy Chief Scott Witt surveys the damage on Empire Grade in Felton and points out the preventative that helped or could have helped stop the CZU Lightning Complex Fire from progressing, Aug. 27, 2020.

The Camp Growlersberg inmate hand crew clears a preventative fire break in Boony Doon on Aug. 27, 2020.

Chris Woolf watches his 4-year-old mastiff Sir Anthony Brutus Brewcephus II (BruTwo for short) in the back of his truck in San Martin on Sept. 17, 2020. Woolf, a former Navy medic and Burning man ranger, waited until the last possible moment to pack up his truck and evacuate his home in Butte County after the North Complex Fire swept through the area. BruTwo has never left the property and is now showing signs of anxiety being away.

Casey Taylor, the executive director of Achieve Charter School of Paradise, imparts useful information she learned in the wake of the Paradise Fire, such as the phases of disaster, to Eric Gross, the superintendant and principal of Pacific Elementary Scho

Freelance Casey Taylor, the executive director of Achieve Charter School of Paradise, imparts useful information she learned in the wake of the Paradise Fire, such as the phases of disaster, to Eric Gross, the superintendant and principal of Pacific Elementary School District in Gross’s backyard in Santa Cruz on Aug. 26, 2020.

The ruins of a house in the Trade Winds neighborhood of Boulder Creek still smolders after being destroyed by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Aug. 23, 2020.

Antonia Bradford stands next to what’s left of her home in Boulder Creek after it was decimated by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, Sept. 23, 2020. New growth starting to peak through the charred remains of foliage gives her some hope looking forward.