The stark and desolate scenes have become all too familiar over the last several years, and two months remain in an already record-breaking 2020 wildfire season.

Just two years after the catastrophic Camp Fire ripped through Paradise and its surrounding communities, leaving 86 dead and thousands displaced, Butte County this year encountered another deadly blaze not far from the site of 2018’s destruction. As of Sept. 28, the North Complex Fire had burned 306,135 acres and left at least 15 dead.

Among the numerous buildings destroyed were two elementary schools, Butte County Superintendent of Schools Mary Sakuma confirmed during an update to the community. “As has been reported in the images seen across the globe, the school site is a total loss,” she said of Berry Creek Elementary, adding that Feather Falls Elementary was also a total loss.

Sakuma said the Butte County Office of Education’s immediate goals were identifying students and staff who are displaced, and identifying the additional needs of its schools, students and staff. “We have experienced a devastating fire before,” she said. “But we have learned from our past, we are prepared for our present, and we know that no matter how many times we face the flames, we will rise together from the ashes to build our future. We are Butte Strong.”

CSBA is committed to supporting communities that have suffered damage from wildfires — in particular, the state’s public school students and those who work to serve and support them — and to helping our members navigate the impacts of these fires. From recent experience, CSBA knows all too well that the effects of wildfires are felt long after the fires themselves have been extinguished — impacts that are further exacerbated by the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

To that end, CSBA has set up a 2020 Fire Relief Fund for the purpose of generating ongoing support (via the American Red Cross) for those who have been directly impacted by wildfires.

Make a donation: https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/csbafirerelief

In Siskiyou County near the Oregon border, the Slater Fire devastated the small town of Happy Camp, destroying 150 homes and killing two people. Half of the elementary school staff lost their homes, and administrators said they estimate that half of the 109 students are now homeless. Happy Camp Elementary School had started in-person classes just two weeks prior to the blaze.

“It was going so well,” Abigial Yeager, a board member of the Happy Camp Union Elementary School District, told the Los Angeles Times. “It was doing so much for our kids, and it’s been ripped away again. I was trying to process all of the loss, and there’s another loss — the normalcy for the kids. It’s just chaos.”

Faced with the unpredictable Bobcat Fire raging in the hills above the San Gabriel Valley, parts of Pasadena, Altadena, Monrovia, Bradbury and Duarte contended with evacuation notices. The resulting air quality was so poor that Monrovia Unified School District board member Maritza Travanti relocated to a coastal hotel so her daughters could continue distance learning.

Fire-torn from previous years, late September also saw the return of destructive blazes to Napa and Sonoma counties.

The air quality also greatly impacted many districts’ plans for distributing meals, while also impeding important outdoor activities at school sites and community parks and centers. While the smoke and haze was widespread throughout the state, Fresno and Clovis experienced particularly unhealthy air quality resulting from the Creek Fire in the Sierra National Forest. It even reached hazardous levels in some areas, such as Madera.