2018/11: Breathe

Completion Date: 25 November 2018
Medium: Paint & ink on cardboard
Dimensions: 16 X 20 inches

Breathe

After nearly two weeks of unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke, San Francisco Bay Area skies finally cleared as the first storm in months entered the region.

While the so-called Camp Fire burned, Northern California reportedly had the dirtiest air in the world, topping notoriously smoggy cities in India and China.

The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. It is also the deadliest wildfire in the United States since the Cloquet fire in 1918. Named after Camp Creek Road (its place of origin) the fire started on November 8, 2018, in Butte County, in Northern California. The fire caused 85 civilian fatalities, injured 12 civilians and five firefighters, covered an area of over 150,000 acres, and destroyed 18,733 structures, including 12,637 single-family homes and 118 apartment buildings, with most of the damage occurring within the first two days. Insured damage was estimated to be $8-10 billion.