Episode 13, Part 1: Kevin Fagan's Coverage of the 2017 Wine Country Wild Fires

Film photograph by Michelle Kilfeather

In October 2017, a series of wild fires swept through parts of Napa, Sonoma, Solano, and Mendocino counties, claiming the lives of many residents, leveling houses and business structures, displacing families, and killing livestock and other animals.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan, who had already covered many disasters in addition to writing prize-winning stories about the homeless population in the city, was sent to cover the conflagration up north.

In this episode of Storied: San Francisco, Kevin will describe what it was like to be on the front lines of that disaster. He will talk about being there to get a story, and how the same was true for a murder scene he once visited in the city.

Here are some of Kevin's stories from the Chronicle on the fires:

• California wildfires: Sonoma homes go up in flames, Calistoga averts disaster

• Their home lost to the Tubbs Fire, Calistoga family rebounds with a little help
• Rebuild or rethink: Fire destruction offers opportunity in Santa Rosa

Check back next week for parts 2 and 3 of Kevin's podcast, when he will talk about covering homeless people in the city.