In 2020, a dry lightning storm that ignited hundreds of simultaneous wildfires across the West and kicked off the worst fire season on record. Martin, along with thousands of other Californians, evacuated her home in the midst of a pandemic.
The Last Fire Season by Manjula MartinIn is both a love letter to the forests of the West and an interrogation of the colonialist practices that led to their current dilemma The Last Fire Season follows her from the oaky hills of Sonoma County to the redwood forests of coastal Santa Cruz, to the pines and peaks of the Sierra Nevada, as she seeks shelter, bears witness to the devastation, and tries to better understand fire’s role in the ecology of the West.
Check out the book here.