Greenville residents find remnants of former lives as they return home after Dixie fire | Wildfires | The Guardian
Greenville residents find remnants of former lives as they return home after Dixie fire
A photographer captures moments as residents return: ‘I’m doing what I can, which is to take pictures and have the story be told’
Riley Cantrell, right, cries while she and her boyfriend Bradley Fairbanks view her mother’s home that burned during the Dixie fire in Greenville, California. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Victoria Bekiempis
Sun 5 Sep 2021 22.12 BST
As some families in Greenville, California started to return home this week after the Dixie fire tore through this town of about 800 residents, they were confronted by burnt remnants of their former lives. Some returned to find a makeshift grave for a family pet. Others walked through debris which, just a few weeks earlier, they had planned to sell.
Photographer Josh Edelson was at home, recuperating from a stretch of 20-hour days photographing the California wildfires, when he saw the alert from CalFire, the state’s department of forestry and fire protection, saying this week that residents could return home. The news came one month after the Dixie fire – which has burned 893,852 acres since erupting on 14 July – struck Greenville, and Edelson wanted to capture the moment.
In one of Edelson’s photos, a woman named Riley Cantrell holds her face and cries as she surveils the charred remains of her mother’s home with her boyfriend Bradley Fairbanks. When Cantrell arrived at the pile of rubble, she discovered a small mound, with a sort of little cross on it.
Wendy Weight, left, reacts while viewing the burned remains of her home in Greenville, California, on Saturday. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
The family dog, had perished in the blaze. Cantrell told Edelson that firefighters had found the dog and buried it on the property.
“I’ve wanted to get photos of residents coming home or to what’s left of their homes, because I feel like those are some of the only opportunities to get the most emotional visuals from a fire,” said Edelson, 42.
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“Usually, when covering a wildfire, it’s actual fire, firefighters, people are evacuated. And, they might be visually striking images, but the emotional side of fires typically comes when people start returning home.”
A family of deer wanders through burned rubble in Greenville, California, on Saturday. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
“So I really wanted to get that, especially since the Caldor fire, with the Lake Tahoe basin, has kind of, more taken over, or dominated, the headlines in terms of fire.” The Caldor fire has approached Lake Tahoe, though firefighters have made progress in battling the blaze.
“It seems like every year they get worse or at least in this case, different. Nobody expected fire to come into the Lake Tahoe basin, but it did,” Edelson said at one point in conversation with the Guardian. “The Dixie fire was absolutely insane. When Greenville burned, there was a huge column of ash that was just kind of towering over it, and that sort of pushed fire into the town.”
“I know there’s a lot of other stuff going on as well, but I just couldn’t believe that people weren’t jumping on the chance to go and photograph residents returning home in the Greenville area,” Edelson said. “I don’t want to say that it’s forgotten, but the news cycle moves pretty quickly, so it was really important to me to keep this in people’s faces and keep that picture going.”
Riley Cantrell, left, and her boyfriend Bradley Fairbanks view what’s left of her mother’s home after the Dixie fire in Greenville, California. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
“It’s not like the Dixie fire was just, you know, a small fire and a small story,” Edelson said. “It destroyed an entire town.”
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In his more than 10 years of chronicling fire season, he has shot close to 100 wildfires, and photographed residents returning home dozens of times.
“There’s a lot of people that lost their homes, and there’s a lot of really deeply emotional and impactful stories that come out of that.”
“When I got there, I kind of just expected there would be residents everywhere going through their things, but there actually were very few people there. I don’t quite understand why,” Edelson said. “I just kind of drove around and waited in a lot of spots in downtown Greenville, and some residential neighborhoods, and found a handful of residents that were coming home to view their properties. So, they were just kind of slowly trickling in. ”
Another one of Edelson’s photos this week captured the Weight family somberly assessing what was left of their home in Greenville. They had planned on selling their property before the fire. Another photo shows Cody Najera and Arizona Erb examining debris from what used to be their home.
Residents Cody Najera, right, and Arizona Erb look through the remains of their burned home in Greenville, California, on 4 September. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
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Edelson, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, said he always approaches residents before taking photos, asking if it’s OK for him to be there. “I know that it’s a very difficult time for them, and they’re struggling with a lot. I just let them know I’m a photographer on assignment for AFP, which I was.”
“Occasionally, somebody will say ‘no,’ and I’ll just then leave, but I effectively get permission from them to be there and photograph them. I try and exhibit some compassion, and tell them I’m really sorry for their loss.”
“It’s heart-wrenching. I feel really bad for these people. I wish there was something I could do, but I guess I’m doing what I can, which is to take pictures and have the story be told,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what telling the story and showing these scenes will do, but I hope something good comes from it.”
Jack and Heidi Green walk through a burned neighborhood in Greenville, California. The Greens say their home survived, but they wished it had burned since it is condemned. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Edelson said that he aims to capture the reactions that best show the toll of destruction: “People hugging, reacting to a scene, hand on face, hand on head, crying, wiping tears, all those things kind of convey, those kind of show emotion.”
“There may not be flames and firefighters, but it’s the effect, how it’s actually affecting people, so I think it’s really important.”
Greenville residents find remnants of former lives as they return home after Dixie fire
A photographer captures moments as residents return: ‘I’m doing what I can, which is to take pictures and have the story be told’
Riley Cantrell, right, cries while she and her boyfriend Bradley Fairbanks view her mother’s home that burned during the Dixie fire in Greenville, California. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Victoria Bekiempis
Sun 5 Sep 2021 22.12 BST
As some families in Greenville, California started to return home this week after the Dixie fire tore through this town of about 800 residents, they were confronted by burnt remnants of their former lives. Some returned to find a makeshift grave for a family pet. Others walked through debris which, just a few weeks earlier, they had planned to sell.
Photographer Josh Edelson was at home, recuperating from a stretch of 20-hour days photographing the California wildfires, when he saw the alert from CalFire, the state’s department of forestry and fire protection, saying this week that residents could return home. The news came one month after the Dixie fire – which has burned 893,852 acres since erupting on 14 July – struck Greenville, and Edelson wanted to capture the moment.
In one of Edelson’s photos, a woman named Riley Cantrell holds her face and cries as she surveils the charred remains of her mother’s home with her boyfriend Bradley Fairbanks. When Cantrell arrived at the pile of rubble, she discovered a small mound, with a sort of little cross on it.
Wendy Weight, left, reacts while viewing the burned remains of her home in Greenville, California, on Saturday. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
The family dog, had perished in the blaze. Cantrell told Edelson that firefighters had found the dog and buried it on the property.
“I’ve wanted to get photos of residents coming home or to what’s left of their homes, because I feel like those are some of the only opportunities to get the most emotional visuals from a fire,” said Edelson, 42.
Advertisement
“Usually, when covering a wildfire, it’s actual fire, firefighters, people are evacuated. And, they might be visually striking images, but the emotional side of fires typically comes when people start returning home.”
A family of deer wanders through burned rubble in Greenville, California, on Saturday. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
“So I really wanted to get that, especially since the Caldor fire, with the Lake Tahoe basin, has kind of, more taken over, or dominated, the headlines in terms of fire.” The Caldor fire has approached Lake Tahoe, though firefighters have made progress in battling the blaze.
“It seems like every year they get worse or at least in this case, different. Nobody expected fire to come into the Lake Tahoe basin, but it did,” Edelson said at one point in conversation with the Guardian. “The Dixie fire was absolutely insane. When Greenville burned, there was a huge column of ash that was just kind of towering over it, and that sort of pushed fire into the town.”
“I know there’s a lot of other stuff going on as well, but I just couldn’t believe that people weren’t jumping on the chance to go and photograph residents returning home in the Greenville area,” Edelson said. “I don’t want to say that it’s forgotten, but the news cycle moves pretty quickly, so it was really important to me to keep this in people’s faces and keep that picture going.”
Riley Cantrell, left, and her boyfriend Bradley Fairbanks view what’s left of her mother’s home after the Dixie fire in Greenville, California. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
“It’s not like the Dixie fire was just, you know, a small fire and a small story,” Edelson said. “It destroyed an entire town.”
Advertisement
In his more than 10 years of chronicling fire season, he has shot close to 100 wildfires, and photographed residents returning home dozens of times.
“There’s a lot of people that lost their homes, and there’s a lot of really deeply emotional and impactful stories that come out of that.”
“When I got there, I kind of just expected there would be residents everywhere going through their things, but there actually were very few people there. I don’t quite understand why,” Edelson said. “I just kind of drove around and waited in a lot of spots in downtown Greenville, and some residential neighborhoods, and found a handful of residents that were coming home to view their properties. So, they were just kind of slowly trickling in. ”
Another one of Edelson’s photos this week captured the Weight family somberly assessing what was left of their home in Greenville. They had planned on selling their property before the fire. Another photo shows Cody Najera and Arizona Erb examining debris from what used to be their home.
Residents Cody Najera, right, and Arizona Erb look through the remains of their burned home in Greenville, California, on 4 September. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
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Edelson, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, said he always approaches residents before taking photos, asking if it’s OK for him to be there. “I know that it’s a very difficult time for them, and they’re struggling with a lot. I just let them know I’m a photographer on assignment for AFP, which I was.”
“Occasionally, somebody will say ‘no,’ and I’ll just then leave, but I effectively get permission from them to be there and photograph them. I try and exhibit some compassion, and tell them I’m really sorry for their loss.”
“It’s heart-wrenching. I feel really bad for these people. I wish there was something I could do, but I guess I’m doing what I can, which is to take pictures and have the story be told,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what telling the story and showing these scenes will do, but I hope something good comes from it.”
Jack and Heidi Green walk through a burned neighborhood in Greenville, California. The Greens say their home survived, but they wished it had burned since it is condemned. Photograph: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
Edelson said that he aims to capture the reactions that best show the toll of destruction: “People hugging, reacting to a scene, hand on face, hand on head, crying, wiping tears, all those things kind of convey, those kind of show emotion.”
“There may not be flames and firefighters, but it’s the effect, how it’s actually affecting people, so I think it’s really important.”
