SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — The redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains had not burned in decades. But they burned the year one data journalist lived there. Aug. 18, 2020 will forever be ingrained in the mind of the journalist who was displaced from her home by wildfire and tasked with covering the blaze that threatened her community. She rescued her pets from her home and then went to stay at a relative’s house. Next, she got to work scouring social media and communicating with neighbors. She bonded with fellow evacuees to share their collective story. And, she took her experience with data to report on the human impact of the wildfire smoke.
