New video explores massive wildfire at Big Basin Redwoods State Park and the forest’s recovery
Almost two years ago, on Aug. 16, 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned 86,509 acres, an area nearly three times the size of the city of San Francisco, in rural Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
The most destructive fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains in recorded history, flames destroyed 1,490 structures, mostly around the town of Boulder Creek, killing one person.
The fire made national news for the devastation it brought to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California’s oldest state park, first established in 1902 for to preserve its towering old-growth redwoods from sawmills. The fire burned 97% of Big Basin’s 18,000 acres. It destroyed campgrounds, the park’s iconic 1930s-era headquarters building, its outdoor amphitheater, museum, gift shops, ranger homes and dozens of wooden bridges.
Now, the Mountain Parks Foundation, a non-profit group based in Felton, has released a 12-minute video with the California state parks department, “Big Basin: The History of Fire.” The film, which was posted this week on YouTube and created by Owl Eye Media, a Santa Cruz company, looks back on the historic disaster. It is told through the eyes of rangers and park supporters who experienced the fire firsthand — from rushing to evacuate campgrounds that day to learning their own homes had burned, and then having to rebuild their lives and the park’s facilities in the weeks and months that followed.
Although the fire killed thousands of Douglas firs, nearly every one of Big Basin’s famous old-growth redwood trees, dating back 2,000 years, survived. Now after painstaking clearing of burned buildings, vehicles, and dead trees near trails and roads, the park is scheduled to reopen on July 22 in a limited way to the public, by reservation.
Highway 236, which runs from Boulder Creek through Big Basin, also will reopen July 22 for the first time since the fire. Reservations are not needed to drive on the road, but motorists will not be allowed to stop and hike into the forest due to safety concerns and lack of facilities.
Reservations to visit Big Basin can be made at https://thatsmypark.org/parks-and-beaches/big-basin-redwoods-state-park or by calling (831) 338-8867.
Almost two years ago, on Aug. 16, 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned 86,509 acres, an area nearly three times the size of the city of San Francisco, in rural Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties.
The most destructive fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains in recorded history, flames destroyed 1,490 structures, mostly around the town of Boulder Creek, killing one person.
The fire made national news for the devastation it brought to Big Basin Redwoods State Park, California’s oldest state park, first established in 1902 for to preserve its towering old-growth redwoods from sawmills. The fire burned 97% of Big Basin’s 18,000 acres. It destroyed campgrounds, the park’s iconic 1930s-era headquarters building, its outdoor amphitheater, museum, gift shops, ranger homes and dozens of wooden bridges.
Now, the Mountain Parks Foundation, a non-profit group based in Felton, has released a 12-minute video with the California state parks department, “Big Basin: The History of Fire.” The film, which was posted this week on YouTube and created by Owl Eye Media, a Santa Cruz company, looks back on the historic disaster. It is told through the eyes of rangers and park supporters who experienced the fire firsthand — from rushing to evacuate campgrounds that day to learning their own homes had burned, and then having to rebuild their lives and the park’s facilities in the weeks and months that followed.
Although the fire killed thousands of Douglas firs, nearly every one of Big Basin’s famous old-growth redwood trees, dating back 2,000 years, survived. Now after painstaking clearing of burned buildings, vehicles, and dead trees near trails and roads, the park is scheduled to reopen on July 22 in a limited way to the public, by reservation.
Highway 236, which runs from Boulder Creek through Big Basin, also will reopen July 22 for the first time since the fire. Reservations are not needed to drive on the road, but motorists will not be allowed to stop and hike into the forest due to safety concerns and lack of facilities.
Reservations to visit Big Basin can be made at https://thatsmypark.org/parks-and-beaches/big-basin-redwoods-state-park or by calling (831) 338-8867.
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