The California Report Magazine

Voices from Fire-Ravaged Northern California In Northern California, the week began with a sudden onslaught of flames whipped up by the wind. Multiple wildfires erupted across wine country. Homes, businesses and entire towns have been burned to the ground. Now, even as firefighters continue to work, many residents are returning to see what is left. For Santa Rosa’s KZST Radio Station, the News is Personal Before Sunday night, if you tuned into KZST 100.1FM in Santa Rosa, you’d probably hear a talk show, pop music, or some classic hits. But since fires broke out across Sonoma County, phone and Internet access have been severely limited. So, the station’s staff has transformed it into an essential news source, broadcasting information about the wildfires live, 24/7. The station is surrounded by some of the worst fire damage to date. Ninna Gaensler-Debs takes us there. My Santa Rosa KQED Online Arts Editor Gabe Meline lives in Santa Rosa, one of cities worst hit by the wildfires, with his wife and daughter. When they left their house, they grabbed their emotional treasures: their photos, old letters and their cat. The family is fortunate. Their house has survived, but Meline is a third generation Santa Rosan, and the fires have devastated the landscape where he grew up, and the sentimental landmarks that make the city his hometown. Read Gabe's essay, 'My City Is on Fire' PHOTO DIARY: Life in the Path of a Wildfire What Happens When You Have ‘Fish Blood,’ But You Can’t Fish? For centuries, the Yurok tribe has lived along and fished the Klamath River in California’s far north. But this fall, the number of chinook salmon making their way up the Klamath is the smallest on record. Salmon is essential to the Yurok. It doesn't just represent food or livelihood; salmon is life. For the series California Foodways, Lisa Morehouse went north to Yurok country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices