Sketching Fire Stories
Drawing people as they tell their stories at a Remembrance event on the anniversary of the North Bay Fires
October 08, 2024 will mark the 7-year anniversary of six destructive fires in Sonoma and Napa Counties. These Northern California fires scorched tens of thousands of acres and destroyed more than 5,300 homes. 43 lives were lost.
But there have been several more destructive, larger and deadlier fires since. You can look at the stats but that won’t tell the emotional and personal stories of those people and communities that the firestorms affected directly. It doesn’t tell you how they coped in the aftermath. Drawing their narratives might.
A year after the fires, artists from a few San Francisco Bay area urban sketching groups gathered at a Remembrance event in Santa Rosa to sit with some of those affected, to listen to what they went through and draw them. We heard from survivors that lost family members, first responders and firefighters, new home builders, counselors and donation organizers, and indigenous dancers blessing the land.
Sitting with someone, paying attention to them and drawing them is artful empathy. Here are some of the visual narratives by our artists.
Wildfires are becoming more numerous and deadly. It's important to understand how climate change contributes to this serious situation. Global warming is making forests more combustible and has intensified summertime droughts and increased lightning strikes.
More to Know:
Our urban sketching group also applied our brand of visual journalism at the Global Climate Change Summit March and Conference. I wrote about it here.
Find more Fire Stories here and on our FaceBook page.
Having lived in the Napa Valley at one time, I was particularly anxious for the safety of friends there. Although some had to evacuate, their lives were spared. Hard to imagine that peaceful, beautiful place being under siege, with lives and property lost. Thanks, Bill, to you and your cohort of artists for reminding us of our tenuous balance with nature.
Our cousin's home was destroyed in the Coffey Park fire in Santa Rosa. They rebuilt their home in the same place. One year ago we attended a family baby shower in that new home. The whole neighborhood looks "normal" as if a fire had not happened, except there are no tall trees. We were all affected by this fire in the Bay Area when breathing in this smoke. I appreciate your fire story remembrances.