Thread by @ckoettl

The Almeda Drive fire left a path of destruction as it tore through an #Oregon valley. Using satellite images, videos and social media posts, our video reconstructs what happened.
nytimes.com/video/us/10000…

The fire destroyed so many homes because it started in a well populated area, after a period of hot and dry weather. And the direction of the strong winds that day perfectly aligned with the valley, pushing it quickly through several towns.

This is one of the first structures that burned in Ashland that day. Many more followed as the fire spread and grew. Ashland police told me they suspect that the fire was man made and that they’ve launched a criminal investigation. 📷 Joe Salamone

Through social media postings, text messages shared with me and news reports, we can follow the fire’s path through the valley. Here is a journalist capturing how it reached the town of Talent.

https://twitter.com/brian_schnee/status/1303539576036753408

By the early evening, it had reached Phoenix and the outskirts of Medford, where firefighters were eventually able to stop it. This photo shows burning businesses next to Highway 99. 📷Colin O’Neill

I talked to long time area resident Bow Shaban DeBey, who works in Ashland and lives in Talent. In the middle of the night, he checked on his house, which the fire missed by one and a half blocks. He biked around to livestream the inferno and update other residents.

A @Maxar satellite image from the day after shows the scale of the disaster, in communities along the valley.

These images can’t capture the many individual dramas of people who lost their homes and most of their possessions that day.

https://twitter.com/MKirkBarnes/status/1305543199104970753

Many thanks to the eyewitnesses & their families who talked to me or provided visuals, incl. @tonysalamone @kjantzer @MKirkBarnes @RyanPfeil. The team behind this story is @rarecanary @DrewJordan_NYT @arielle_designs @bottidavid