Natural History Wanderings

The San Francisco Chronicle reports

Lassen Volcanic National Park is still on fire. The second largest conflagration in California history, the Dixie Fire, has now spread over more than half of the park, with nearly 65,000 of the park’s 106,452 acres burned.

And while it’s too soon to assess the damage, initial reports and photographs show that some structures and areas of the park are in pretty bad shape, while others remain pristine and standing.

Seeing what the inside of Lassen looks like now can be upsetting, but park officials emphasize that the entire region was once covered in volcanic ash and rock, and that the resilient park will eventually recover.

Read our story and see the photographs of the park here.