Santa Rosa Wildfires: Displaced Residents Plant Christmas Trees In Burned Homes

The last few months have seen several large wildfires devastate large swaths of California. The northern part of the state was hit by a large blaze in October, while the Thomas Fire that has ravaged southern California since Dec. 4 is officially the largest wildfire in California history, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Santa Rosa was one of the cities hit hardest by the October fire, with some neighborhoods no longer standing at all. The former residents of those homes may not have their ideal Christmas venue, but they have still decorated the land where their homes once stood, NPR reported. According to the report, a disaster response team in the area handed out decorations for free, which people are using to put a modicum of Christmas cheer into the now-desolate rows of vacant lots.

Instagram user Samantha Eggert posted multiple pictures of Christmas trees lining the Coffey Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa. The neighborhood has slowly regained some life, as street lights were turned on again Thursday.