The Fire: Sonoma County

    The Mayor investigated the scene of Sonoma County's firestorm from last month.   It has been about 30 days since sections of the city of Santa Rosa were ravaged by a wind-driven firestorm that destroyed almost 9,500 structures of all types in the middle of the night and on into the next week.
Over 40 people were killed, many unable to leave in time to avoid the flames.  It was California's worst death toll in a wildland fire.

Larkfield Area near Old redwood Highway

In the foto, one can see free standing chimneys and other evidence of the fire.  As we rolled through this neighborhood,  it became clear that wind driven fire spare very little of the landscape in its path.  As we drove south on the Old Redwood Highway, we arrived in the FountainGrove area.  It was here that both commercial and residential structures were lost in minutes.  The steel i-beams of the hotel were all that was left after the fire rolled over the structure.
     Nearby vineyards were burned, leaving charred vines as the only evidence of fire.  Cardinal Newman High School showed some damage at the street, but the majority of classrooms were destroyed in the east side of the campus.  It was just north of this intersection where the fire jumped Highway 101 and crossed into Coffey Park where hundreds of homes were burned in less than 2 hours.   The End of the Trail Trailer park was also ruined as the onslaught moved west before being stopped on Cleveland. Ave.
      Signs in front of most of the lots here in foto indicated that EPA crews had verified that these lots were free of toxic chemicals and other environmental hazards.  Now insurance companies can go in and assess damages and reimburse clients who will have to navigate building depts. and their minions.  It will take years of work to restore these sites to something resembling what was lost.