Fire Returns to My Backyard · Episode 6 of 10 · 20 min
The Reburn Loop
After Marble Cone, the Santa Lucias stayed quiet for twenty-two years, then burned again in 1999, 2008, 2016, 2020, and 2026. Each fire had its own cause, from lightning sieges to campfires and arson, but together the intervals shrank to four to nine years. The conifers here need fifteen to twenty-five years to bear cones, so the fire now returns faster than the forest can reproduce.
Where it happens
- Ventana Wilderness, California+2 more episodesBurned repeatedly from 1977 to 2026
- Garrapata State Park, CaliforniaIllegal campfire started the 2016 Soberanes Fire
- Palo Colorado Canyon, CaliforniaSite of the 2016 dozer death and the 2022 Colorado Fire
- Nacimiento Ranger Station, CaliforniaOverrun by the Dolan Fire; 15 firefighters used shelters
- Big Sur, California+1 more episodeEvacuated in 2008 and repeatedly threatened since
Timeline
- September 1999Kirk Complex burns about 87,000 acres, 22 years after Marble Cone.
- June 2008A lightning siege ignites the Basin Complex; with the Indians Fire, about 240,000 acres burn.
- July 2016An illegal campfire starts the Soberanes Fire, 132,127 acres and about $260 million in suppression.
- August 2020Arson sets the Dolan Fire, destroying a condor sanctuary and killing 12 condors.
- August 2026The Timber Fire ignites near Timber Top, six years after Dolan.
Still debated
Whether shorter fire intervals are caused by climate change is disputed, since many recent ignitions were human-caused. Critics also argue the Soberanes suppression spending reflected excessive backcountry firefighting.