By Emily Niebuhr
Student Life Editor

Photo courtesy of theguardian.com

California has a place in my heart with their culture and people. Anytime I can go there to see family, it is special, and I cherish those moments.
However, when I hear about the wildfires that have been raging since late summer, my heart breaks because I feel like California is my home away from home.
“Since the beginning of the year, there have been 8,100 wildfires that have burned well over 3.9 million acres in California and over 96,000 residents are evacuated across the state,” according to fire.ca.gov. Seeing beautiful California burning up and knowing the place I love is becoming a natural disaster, makes me sad.
Also, fire.ca.gov states “California historically experiences some of the most devastating wildfires in the months of September and October.”
California wildfire seasons are deadly and devastating. Several summers ago, I went to California with my mom to visit my brother and sister-in-law. We visited places that weeks later were damaged by wildfires. It was sad to see those places burned, and luckily, we did not have to witness the destruction. California has yearly wildfires, but 2018 was the worst of them. According to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, “this fire season has been very active.”
I’m thankful that I have the pictures of the places that were destroyed by the fires. It is crazy to hear that this year the wildfires are way worse than several years ago. Just hearing that is heartbreaking, especially when you have family living there saying they can see smoke from their place. My heart goes out to the victims who have lost everything, the people who have died and the brave firefighters out there fighting to put out the fires.
To stay updated on where the wildfires are and where they have been contained, visit fire.ca.gov.

Here are some ways to donate to help California victims affected by the wildfires:

disasterphilanthropy.org
redcross.org
salvationarmy.org
wff.givecloud.co