My current article on this topic was just published in Oregon Fish & Wildlife Journal. It is pretty long, with a number of illustrations, captions, tables, and a map, so I am going to post in two parts, with these illustrations first and the body of the text to follow.Here is the published version: http://nwmapsco.com/ZybachB/Articles/Magazines/Oregon_Fish_&_Wildlife_Journal/20250401_Burned_Out/Zybach_20250425.pdf
1-Title_Page. Historic downtown of Greenville, California, which burned in 30 minutes during the Dixie Fire on August 4, 2021. Photo courtesy of Doug Stoy and Green Ribbon Report.
2-Repeat_Photos. These before and after pictures show the destruction to historic Greenville buildings; several more than 100 years old, and some even having survived the 1881 Greenville Fire 140 years earlier. At that time the town had a population of 500; before the Dixie Fire it was 1100. Greenville was founded as a Gold Rush town in the 1850s and acquired a trading post in 1862. Principal occupations transitioned from mining to logging in the mid-1900s. Photographs courtesy of Doug Stoy and Green Ribbon Report.
3-Greenville_Aftermath. The remains of Greenville, following the Dixie Fire, with Indian Valley and unburned portions of Lassen National Forest in the background. These photographs of Greenville were originally published in the Green Ribbon Report, the newsletter of the Family Water Alliance, Inc. (FWA), based in Colusa, California. They are selected from a series of photographs taken and collected by Doug Stoy, who lost his home in the fire. Permission to republish the photos was given by the newsletter editor, Nadine Bailey, who is also Chief Operations Officer of FWA.
4-Paradise_Compass. Frank Carroll, Professional Forest Management, took this photograph of the remains of a business on Main Street in Paradise, California, using the Solocator app on an iPhone 14, which records the exact time, location, and direction of documentary field photos. While surveying and recording the destruction of Paradise, Frank noted: “The Camp Fire burned the town in a single burning period. Homes, businesses, schools, fire stations, community buildings, restaurants, and government buildings burned to the foundations across the city. Cleanup and PFAS soil mitigation had not begun. Surveying the destruction, we were struck by the uniform sense of PTSD among residents, government workers, service workers, and emergency personnel. The Camp Fire was a fire bomb cyclone, impervious to suppression efforts and moving so quickly people died in their homes and their vehicles and were killed when the fire caught them isolated and on foot. Much of the overhead tree mast in large conifers survived intact, indicating a fast-moving ground fire with radiant and convective heat moving horizontally to the ground. Planned emergency egress and warning systems utterly failed to protect residents, as did an almost universal disregard for Firewise planning and zoning, which appears to have been disregarded today as people rebuild traditional structures and inadequate emergency ingress and egress.”
5-Detroit_Market. The Detroit Highway Market with Gene’s Meat Market and gas pumps was a popular local landmark on Highway 22 at the corner of Breitenbush Road. It was a well-known stopping place for many of the hunters, boaters, fishermen, and other recreationists who regularly visited Detroit. The market was destroyed in the Santiam Fire on September 9, along with most of Detroit and Gates, and with significant portions of Idanha, Mill City, and Lyons. Photo by McKenzie Peters, NW Maps Co., November 21, 2020.
6-Phoenix_Trailer_Park. There was a total of 18 aging “trailer parks” and more modern “mobile home estates” destroyed in the towns of Talent and Phoenix between Highway 99 and Bear Creek Greenway during the Almeda Drive Fire on September 8. This videoclip by McKenzie Peters, NW Maps Co., shows the remains of Rogue Valley Mobile Park on October 26, 2020.
7-McKenzie_Street. McKenzie Street and Library sign in Blue River, destroyed in the Holiday Farm Fire on September 7. On November 16, 2024 the Grand Opening of the rebuilt and volunteer-operated Frances Obrien Memorial Library was held in a new location. It marked a very significant day in the recovery of Blue River. Video-clip by McKenzie Peters, NW Maps Co., October 6, 2020.
https://forestpolicypub.com/2025/04/28/burned-out-deadl…ing-towns-part-2/
Thanks for posting these photos, Bob, but I have to disagree with the second part of this point on Paradise and the Camp Fire: “Planned emergency egress and warning systems utterly failed to protect residents, as did an almost universal disregard for Firewise planning and zoning, which appears to have been disregarded to the present day as people rebuild traditional structures and inadequate emergency ingress and egress.”
I stayed overnight at a newly constructed friend’s house in Paradise just three weeks ago. We had a good discussion on the new building codes for that area, things such as building with fire resistant materials, tempered windows, ember resistant vents and defensible space requirements. All homes are required to follow “Wildfire prepared home standards” as outlined by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
I can’t speak to the ingress and egress issues in the area except to say I’m not sure what they would do considering the topography, as the town is hemmed in by two steep drainages.
Thanks Mike: The quote is from wildfire expert Frank Carroll. I think he was referring to Paradise in the past tense, and said it “appeared” that new construction was ignoring such efforts as well at the time of his visit. It is good to know that corrective actions are being taken and that people have returned to rebuild!
I am enjoying the article.
I looked at the tables and noticed that Dixie Fire is shown to be on the Lassen N.F. Though the Lassen lost a lot of forest to the Dixie Fire, most of the destruction was on the Plumas N.F.
Thanks Ron: I appreciate the correction! This forum has always been a good place to review articles and editorials, and yours is one more example.