I type searching
“google maps fire”
click on the percentage of containment
too low too low
In my mind, my partner’s 87-year old mom
her house in Sonoma 1.4 miles from the flames as of
right now
She was evacuated
How there is nothing I can do apart from refreshing my feed
Refreshing the fire map.
“We call it the line of sorrow”, a firefighter says on a video he shot on his phone
The line of sorrow - “the sharp demarcation where the wind shifted, luck held and firefighters and small bands of residents armed with garden hoses and plastic bowls could finally take a stand against the Tubbs Fire on Oct. 9” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 21, 2017).
Amika Mota, statewide policy director at the Young Women’s Freedom Center: “As a formerly incarcerated person at the Central California Women’s Prison, I spent two and a half years fighting wildland fires, responding to car crashes, and rushing to homes to extinguish blazes. [...]
On Christmas Eve, when the home of [a] correctional officer caught fire, we rushed into the house, bringing out photographs and presents so the family could have their holiday.”
[...] I am proud to have served on my firefighting crew – the experience gave me a chance to grow as a person and a first responder. As a lead engineer, I earned 37 cents an hour: $56 a month.
[...] Unfortunately, despite my training, experience and the fact prison officials determined I was safe to help save lives in the community, I had no realistic path to the same work after I was released. Travel limitations attached to my parole meant one of the few routes to regular firefighting work – seasonal employment with Cal Fire – was closed to me.” (The Guardian, September 1, 2020)
.
The caption on The Mercury News reads: “In this photo taken Sept. 26, 2019, is Amika Mota holding a framed collage of her ‘prison family,’ at her home in the San Francisco Bay area.”
"Her smile is sweet, like yours."