- The author is a California native who grew up witnessing reoccurring wildfires.
- She moved to Indiana due to rampant West Coast wildfires and climate change concerns.
- She’s urged her friends and family to leave California as well and doesn’t plan on returning.
When I graduated from high school in 2004, there were over 8,000 wildfires across California.
I was born and raised in Southern California, and I’ve experienced more than my fair share of wildfires. In fact, it’s one of the major reasons I left and continue to call Indiana home. I’ve toyed with the idea of returning someday, but the constant fires — and larger climate change and land mismanagement problems — keep me from buying property there.
I’ve urged my family and friends from high school to leave, but California can be a bubble. When life is good, no one sees the problems: the increase in homelessness, traffic, etc.
California wildfires have always been a part of my adult life
In 2009, when I graduated from UCLA, over 9,000 wildfires burned across the region from February through November, well beyond the typical fire season. It was worsened by years of drought…