The Magazine of The Sierra Club
Big Basin on Fire
A photographer explores the devastation left behind by the CZU Lightning Complex Fire
Photos and captions by Nina Riggio
Cal Fire public information officers explained that the fire burned so hot in Big Basin State Park because of the massive build-up of understorage brush. Half of the prescribed burns that have taken place in Big Basin happened in the 1990s, which led to the fire burning a lot hotter and resulting in the splitting of old-growth trees.
Big Basin State Park, which spans 18,000 acres, is home to the largest continuous stand of old-growth coast redwoods south of San Francisco.
“What can we learn from redwoods and the effects of climate change?” asked Sam Hodder, of Save the Redwoods League, on September 10, 2020. He explained that a coast redwood will sequester 250 tons of carbon. Just one coast redwood has the ability to absorb as much carbon as 250 "regular" trees. When redwoods are cut down, burned, or degraded by human actions, they release much of their stored carbon back into the atmosphere.
Acorns are scattered on the forest floor along with ash and fire debris on September 10. “It’s hard to feel like we haven’t lost an old friend. People from all over the world are calling in and sending letters of support to help with immediate recovery, and we will recover," explained Elizabeth Hammack, a California state park interpreter.
The CZU Lightning Complex Fire had flame lengths that spanned the size of some of the old-growth redwoods at 300 feet high. "Redwoods have been co-existing with fire for thousands of years, and we'll come together and rebuild," said Jordan Burgess, Santa Cruz deputy district superintendent, on September 10, in Big Basin State Park.
Left: The park headquarters mailbox after Big Basin State Park suffered a catastrophic loss in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. Right: The "Autotree" has sustained "extensive damage" but will likely survive the burn scars. “Redwoods have been here for over 2 million years. They are also extremely resilient. They are able to form new branches and leaves after any type of disturbance, and 90 percent of the redwoods usually survive a large fire like this,” explained state park ecologist Joanne Kerbavaz.
Left: The Father tree suffered significant damage but will survive his burn from the fire. "It's still sad to see or lose a 2,000-year-old redwood; these redwoods will look different for a long time," explained Joanne Kerbavaz. Right: A melted park headquarters payphone. The headquarters, a one-story building built in 1936 from stone and redwood logs, was included in the National Register of Historic Places.
Redwoods are the tallest known living trees in the world and can live for over 3,000 years. The reopening of the park will pose many issues to the health and safety of not only visitors but also staff as many trees have suffered extensive damage and are constantly falling. "We're working with Cal Fire to see what we're going to do about access. We care about the health and safety of our staff and visitors. We will start to see progress in the spring and can move forward from there with a better date for reopening," said Jordan Burgess.
A redwood tree still on fire in Big Basin State Park on September 10 after the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned the park for the past few weeks.
Left: A view from inside the "Mother of the Forest" tree on September 10. "The Mother and Father trees look like they have enough structural integrity to survive—this is a resilient forest," explained Joanne Kerbavaz. Right: A view from inside the Mother tree looking out after the fires wreaked havoc on Big Basin State Park. Mother's current height is 293 feet. She has experienced significant damage but looks to have survived a serious internal burn.
Ash coats a tree in Big Basin State Park on September 10, after the fire had burned the park for a few weeks.
Mark Hylkema, the supervisor of the Cultural Resources Program, looks up longingly at one of the damaged and burned redwoods in Big Basin State Park.
When some people look at the cut of the redwoods, what they see are lines marking history—2,000 years of history laid out before them like a book in a language you will never be able to read. The next ring they form, the ones that survived the fires in August at least, will be especially thick—a record of one of the most ferocious blazes Big Basin has seen.
Early in the morning on August 16, lightning struck various locations around the Santa Cruz Mountains. What followed—the 86,509-acre CZU Complex Fire—devastated parts of California’s oldest state park, Big Basin, home to three watersheds and some of the tallest trees in the Bay Area. While many of the oldest trees will survive, the fire claimed more victims than it should have, the result of more than a century of fire suppression and a rapidly warming climate.
Cal Fire public information officers described the Big Basin fire as burning too hot because of the build-up of tree debris that could have been controlled with more prescribed burn. In a map provided by state park employees, half of the prescribed burns that the park has overseen happened in the 1990’s.
This ancient forest will survive, but forest management must move forward with climate adaptation in mind.