Very nice piece by Amanda-thoughtful and thought-provoking. Great imagery, also. The views from space are so dramatic, especially the darkened views with highlights of the flames. I’d seen several shots of the smoke trailing out over the ocean during dayight-scary enough, but the ever-expanding ring of fire gives an even better understanding of the insidious nature of nature.
As to the text-I guess you’ve seen the National Geographic cover story about Katrina and the resulting debate over reconstruction. The most recent issue of Nat Geo absolutely bursts with letters to the editor about the opinions of where and whether to rebuild. One of the comments was, “we can travel in space and land on the moon, but we’re still building houses in places where our great-grandfathers wouldn’t have pitched a tent.” Much of the argument, of course, has to do with the use of tax dollars providing the material.
I’m not sure how I feel about some of this stuff. Perhaps it’s time to declare certain environments “danger zones” or something, where you build at your own risk-where government relief is not available. Maybe that’s too severe, but I remember being pretty pissed-off about tax dollars rebuilding rich folks’ homes on the beach somewhere on the southeastern coast, where the houses have been wiped out routinely (something like five times in ten years). As one Nat Geo responder wrote, “when are we going to learn? Water always gets the last word.” Here in the west, unfortunately, lack of water always gets the last word.
Amanda, you’re doing good work. Clearly you’re one of the good guys.

I loved this. Everything you had to say carried so much weight. The way you described the beauty and the love people have for the area segued so smoothly into the downside of building so close to the woods. The irony is unmistakable.

Beautiful piece.

Amanda, nicely done, and even informative. As a New Orleanian, I certainly appreciate the question of whether or not to rebuild and whether or not to afford insurance. My childhood home and the home of my parents is a few houses from one of the levee breaches — the breaches that ruined New Orleans after a hurricane that never hit the city.

My folks cannot afford to start over somewhere else. The money they get has strings attached: They can use it to rebuild right there, or they can leave. My father will be 80 in January, and my mother is only a few years younger, but they’re doing it. Starting from scratch. The bricks are there, but everything else needs to be re-created. Siblings lost houses and all possessions; aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. So I know how those folks in California feel. But it does make you wonder about living in places where disaster can strike.

Too bad the folks in-the-know didn’t fortify the levees when they were told to. Too bad those folks didn’t cut back the trees. It’s astounding what an area that fire took. Hope you and yours are okay.