As the West Burns
People often find themselves at the center of wildfires with their homes and personal safety endangered. In May I drove down the Pacific coast from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, Calif., and the small community of Bonny Doon, where in June 2008 the Martin Fire threatened local businesses, vineyards and residences along the fire's perimeter.
Steve Sohl and Ryan Koch on the property they saved, 2008 Martin Fire, Bonny Doon, California — 1 year later
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More than a dozen structures were lost, and had Steve Sohl and Ryan Koch not chosen to ignore an evacuation notice, their property would have been similarly destroyed. Steve, Ryan and a friend fought off the blaze as it approached and quickly spread onto their land. Working through the night and fending off the flames with techniques such as putting out spot fires with pails of pool water and punching through the house's outside wall to reach the burning materials inside — Ryan dislocated a finger in the process — the men were able to save their houses.
It is important to note that the team always had an escape plan and that their efforts were skillfully, if not hurriedly, carried out in tandem. Some structural burning was still recorded on the property, including damage to the exterior of Steve's RV, Ryan's bungalow, and the gutters of the house owned by Bob Sohl, Steve's father. The neighbors were not as lucky, however. They lost their homes and connected buildings, including a work shed containing an acetylene tank that dramatically combusted.
Bob had warned the local sheriff and district attorney two weeks prior to the incident that the amount of overgrowth in the area, which also contains an ecological preserve, was a "powder keg waiting to explode," but no preventive efforts were undertaken.
It is hoped that a local lesson has been learned in Bonny Doon, but we all could stand to educate ourselves on how to prevent future losses, not only in human terms but also in relation to the health of the environment. Nature has a way of achieving a balance that often doesn't align with our interests, but if we have any concern for ourselves and the spaces we occupy, we best learn. In the end we are always at the mercy of the natural world.
Jim Sienkiewicz is an instructor at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he is a panel member on the thesis project advisory committee in the masters photography department. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts. For more information on "The West Is Burning," visit www.jimsienkiewicz.com.
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