California’s Inner-City Wildfire Problem

Oakland firefighters responding to a fire on Wood Street in Oakland, California on March 1, 2022 Courtesy Oakland Fire Department

OAKLAND, Calif.—Blackened metal frames of torched cars lie upside down, charred skeletal support beams of burned buildings stand under the overcast sky, and a light haze of soot and dust permeate the air and powder all available surfaces.

What sounds like a war zone in a third-world country is instead a stretch of road near both one of the largest ports in the United States and one of the most famous bridges on the West Coast.