This interview was originally broadcast on Aug. 13, 2019. We are replaying it for the anniversary of the Camp Fire this week.
A year ago this Friday, the Camp Fire burned through Paradise, Concow and surrounding communities in Butte County. In a piece for California Sunday Magazine this summer, called "Gone," journalist Mark Arax dug deep into the cause of the fire. In the story, he talks about the factors leading up to California's devastating wildfires and about Richard Wilson, who headed Cal Fire in the 1990s. Wilson had a very specific opinion of what has happened to California's forests and how they've been managed.
Arax is an award-winning author based in Fresno. His latest book is “The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California.”