The K-Mart Building Made Matters Worse
Google Street View; After: Kent Porter/The Press Democrat
The 114,000 square foot K Mart was one of the larger commercial buildings to burn on the first day of the wildfires in Santa Rosa. The winds were up to 50 mph in the early hours of the morning, causing volatile burning conditions and extreme rates of spreading. More than 180 people were reported missing that day as towers and phone lines collapsed and burned and Fountaingrove residents were left with whatever they escaped with. Most of the state wasn’t even awake while an entire neighborhood had quickly lost everything they owned.
While K Mart and Applebee’s burned, another neighborhood caught on fire while people slept.
