 This tree was burning significantly when this pulse, all these structures burned down. The CZU Lightning Complex fire started on August the 16th. Eventually burning nearly 90,000 acres, the fire tore through the Santa Cruz Mountains and forced complete evacuations in Big Basin Redwood State Park. These are some of the oldest living things. Chris Sporer oversees the park and its staff. This is the place where people would bring their family to have that redwood experience where they're camping under the redwoods, they're learning about redwood ecology, they're experiencing the creeks. The park is splendidly equipped to serve the requirements of the visiting public and in the summer season is constantly thronged with pleasure seekers. To put this park in perspective, Big Basin Redwood State Park is home to one of the few remaining old growth redwood forests in the country. It was established as a state park in 1902, making this the oldest state park in California. But the history here goes back much farther. Some of these giant redwoods go back 1500 years. This was not the first wildfire these trees have been through. They've survived before and Chris is hopeful most will survive again. These trees to become 1500 years old have had to survive multiple fires. This is the trail right here. Even while the fire was still active, Chris led a tour of Big Basin so Governor Gavin Newsom could see the damage firsthand. The visit included an emotional press conference at the site of the Burn Down Park headquarters. My heart really does break, not only for my staff who have given everything to get through this, but for the people that I know how much this means to them. We've all felt the pits of despair. We're still feeling that, but on the other hand, there's so much support and you can't help but look at what the future is going to be, you know. Big Basin will remain closed for the next year. While several agencies, including Cal OES, work with state parks and the locals to rebuild and reopen. From our partners at Cal Fire, through all the support agencies including OES, people are reaching out. It can be daunting to see the forest through the burned trees, but take a closer look at Big Basin and you'll see the earliest signs of recovery. I was out yesterday and I saw some of the sprouting already happening on some of the trees. You see that and you're like, yeah, the forest is going to rebound. It's not going to look the same, but it's going to come back. For more with Chris Forer or Big Basin Redwood State Park, go to the podcast page on our website at OESNews.com.