This article is part of a monthly series of photos and articles on the transformation of Mount Diablo following the 2013 Morgan Fire, funded by special donations from Bay Nature readers. You can find our stories, as well as event listings, iNaturalist sightings, and magazine features, at baynature.org/diablo.
n September 8, 2013, a wildfire hit the eastern slope of Mount Diablo. Over the next four days, it would spread to more than 3,000 acres, making it the largest fire on the mountain since 1977.
On the one-year anniversary of what came to be called the 2013 Morgan Fire, there’s good news to report. “The regeneration has been incredible,” says state park environmental scientist Cyndy Shafer, “even in a drought year.”
The videos below tell the tale in pictures. Slide shows of only a minute each, they highlight a year’s worth of changes in Diablo’s charred grassland, woodland, and chaparral habitats. See for yourself how the mountain has bounced back.
Slideshow photos by Scott Hein, Seth Adams, and Joan Hamilton.
