The Tubbs Fire burned from October 08 to October 31, 2017. This fire is estimated to have burned over 36,000 acres of land. Over 5,600 homes and other buildings were destroyed, the bulk of those being in Santa Rosa. It is believed that the point of origin was on Tubbs Lane, hence the name of the fire being the Tubbs Fire. The fire was pushed onwards by strong wind gusts, fueled by excessively dry surroundings due to ongoing drought. This fire alone would cost over 100 million in fire suppression, which is something I think people often do not consider. At least 22 people died in this particular fire.

There were some very serious issues surrounding this fire. Emergency alerts were not sent to every cell phone in the area, because the powers that be were worried about causing a panic... Text message alerts were sent to the numbers who had signed up for alerts, which was not every resident. Reverse 911 called landlines, but only in certain areas. Evacuations were not ordered in a timely manner and were executed poorly. PG&E is notorious for failing to maintain their electrical lines, which often arc, causing fires. One of the most abhorrent issues created the basis for this book: the abandonment of residents of a senior care facility in the midst of a natural disaster. This facility did not have a clear plan of action in case of any type of emergency. They were understaffed. The employees that were there had little to no training, no access to keys for vehicles, no access to generators, no access to batteries. Residents were on a second floor, many of whom were reliant on wheelchairs, with no way to get downstairs. Family members, the skeleton crew with no instruction, and some first responders came to rescue them, not the management of the facilities. Out of the two facilities, Villa Capri burned completely down, and Varenna was heavily damaged.

I would like to say that in 2017, with all of the devastating fires that had been documented throughout history, that a facility such as this would have understood the need for proper fire plans. There was nothing in place for these people. Many of them relied on walkers and wheelchairs. Many were reliant on oxygen or other machines. There were no generators for those people in case of an emergency. There was no way to get them off a second floor with no working elevator. Prior to this incident, there were multiple complaints about staff not caring for people properly. I can see why there were complaints! They weren't doing what they should have been doing, and the ones that were had scant training and no support. I would like to say that stories like this about nursing home and assisted living home horrors are few and far between, but the reality is...they aren't. It shouldn't take a natural disaster to catch people out for not doing what they are supposed to do. I do not blame the families for taking legal action against these facilities. Quite frankly, the state should prevent these people from operating any facility like this in the future, as they are not concerned about caring for people.

This book was very detailed. It gave a lot of information on various residents and the few workers in the facilities. There was a lot of information about the Tubbs Fire as well. I found this book to be well researched, and full of personal statements and sentiments about members of the community and the facilities. This book really made you feel tense with the people in the book and enraged at the abandonment and mistreatment of the people in the facilities. I have the Audible version, which was a long listen. If you are interested in the physical copy, it is over 400 pages.