November is usually a month filled with cold nights, relatives coming into town, elections, and cold weather rolling in. However, this November could be considered one of the hottest on record, for California residents, that is. On November 8th, the most destructive fire in the history of California sparked. Before being contained, the fire has claimed eighty-six lives, and to date there are still two-hundred and ninety-six people missing. Those people are family members, teachers, and students. The destruction that was caused by this fire has affected more than just those residents in California, it impacts those who have or had family in California, and by that nature, it affects students at East.

Chris Gaston, Class of 2019, lived in California until he moved to Michigan. Gaston has family and friends in California that have been affected by the Paradise Fire. “My dad and stepmom had to evacuate, a lot of my friends were forced to evacuate. Their homes were destroyed,”. This fire consumed around 130,000 acres of the state, and in conjunction with the Park wildfire consumed around 200,000 acres of land in California.

The Park, Paradise, Wooley, and Camp wildfires have been the most destructive in California’s history. They have also been the latest in the season fires that California has endured. In terms of USD, all three fires are estimated to cost around Ten Million dollars, and take upto five years to rebuild from.

After all three fires, which originated from the Camp Fire, have been contained, it’s a optimal time for the U.S. Department of Forestry to double check what caused this fire, and how we can prevent the same thing from happening again.

The impact of these fires are felt across the country, and will be for the years to come. Businesses that are rooted in California are stepping up to provide for those impacted, by donating shoes, clothes, and profits in order to stimulate rebuilding efforts. The citizens of California that have been affected have been feeling the pain that this fire has caused them, but they aren’t alone.