- The author is a California native who grew up seeing repeated wildfires.
- She moved to Indiana because of wildfires on the West Coast and concerns about climate change.
- She has asked her friends and family to leave California as well and has no plans to return.
When I graduated high school in 2004, there were over 8,000 wildfires in California.
I was born and raised in Southern California and have experienced more than my fair share of wildfires. In fact, it’s one of the main reasons I left and continue to call Indiana home. I’ve toyed with the idea of returning one day, but the constant wildfires — and larger climate change and land mismanagement problems — prevent me from buying property there.
I’ve asked my family and friends since high school to leave, but California can be a bubble. When life is good, no one sees the problems: the increase in homelessness, traffic, etc.
The California wildfires have always been a part of my life growing up
In 2009, when I graduated from UCLA, over 9,000 fires burned across the region from February to November, well beyond the typical wildfire season. It was made worse by years of drought.
That summer, I saw billows of smoke rise above the skyscrapers in the season’s deadliest fire, the Station Fire, north of LA, before everyone urged us to go into lockdown to evacuate. It was hell: choking smoke and nowhere to go on the 110 freeway.
In 2018, fires struck again. This time my family had moved to Irvine, California, and I was on a date at a Barnes and Noble in Aliso Viejo. My date and I were suddenly moved to drop everything. Running out of the parking lot, I took a quick photo of the smoke in the distance, burning dangerously close to Soka University, where I used to teach.
The author snapped a quick photo of smoke covering the parking lot in Aliso Viejo, California. Photo courtesy of Michelle Mastro
That evening, lying in bed, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My family members felt the same way, and later, we installed the highest quality HEPA filters we could find and portable ones that we could move around the house.
I left California and moved to Indiana
I moved to Southern Indiana a year ago, in 2017, and still live here now. As a freelance home tour writer, I meet a lot of ex-Californians who live here and in the Midwest in general. Concerns about climate change and the fires that come from it are at the top of our to-go list.
Californians seem to be moving to Indiana and Michigan for access to clean water in the Great Lakes – but that’s just my pet theory.
The cost of living here is much lower than in California, and I really feel like I’m part of a community. People tend to know their neighbors and there is much less sprawl, so there are plenty of green spaces and state forests to wander.
However, Indiana is a more rural state, so everyday conveniences can be hard to find outside of big cities like Indianapolis and Fort Wayne—there isn’t a Starbucks on every corner.
I love visiting California, but I would never buy property there
This year, the Palisades fire was projected to be the costliest in California history. I am frustrated with the state’s wildfire strategy, which has prioritized fire suppression over prevention for years.
Although millions of dollars have been spent on fire prevention in California, Efforts such as removing dead and felled trees are not enough in the face of climate change, which has prolonged the state’s dry season.
Additionally, places like LA are experiencing budget cuts that affect emergency responses to natural disasters, and it is unclear whether fire insurance requirements will be maintained in urban areas that have been densified to meet housing demands.
Based on my own experiences, I believe the California wildfire season is only going to get worse and worse
I’m not surprised to hear about fire hydrants in Los Angeles. SoCal gets most of its water from the Colorado River – which has recently dried up. Every year SoCal experiences more water outages.
In the early 2000s, we were required not to water our lawns, and starting in 2022, businesses were prohibited from watering ornamental grasses. The lack of fresh water is a real problem making the fire season worse.
I miss seeing my family, but for all these reasons and more, I’m reluctant to go back to California.
If you’ve moved away from your hometown and want to share your story, please email Manseen Logan at mlogan@businessinsider.com.
