Episode 14 - The CZU Complex Fire in 2020 with Chief Nate Armstrong

In the summer of 2020, the CZU Complex Fires destroyed 80,000 acres of coastal old-growth redwood forest ecosystems of central CA.   The wildfires started on August 16, 2020 when 11,000 bolts of dry lightning were detected as ground strikes in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties, igniting hundreds of fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Follow along with CALFIRE Chief for Santa Cruz County Nate Armstrong as he describes the fire’s nearly uncontrollable swath of destruction in the numerous steep drainages in Big Basin Redwoods State Park and how the town of Boulder Creek was threatened.  A full scientific study of the CZU Fire severity can be found at https://journal.wildlife.ca.gov/2023/04/12/impacts-of-the-czu-lightning-complex-fire-of-august-2020-on-the-forests-of-big-basin-redwoods-state-park/