A Timber Mill Below Mount Shasta Gave Rise to a Historic Black Community, and Likely Sparked the Wildfire That Destroyed It
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on October 25, 2022
WEED, Calif.—On Sept. 2, DeAndre Thomas noticed the gusting wind at 5:30 in the morning. The 39-year-old had just finished his overnight shift at the veneer mill where he is a third-generation employee; his grandfather moved from Mississippi to Weed to work there in the mid-1900s.
Just after noon he lay down for a nap with his 11-year-old daughter, Jamila. He didn’t hear a boom around 12:45 from the mill property, now owned by Oregon-based Roseburg Forest Products, nor did he see flames ripping through the . . .
