Sonoma County Library joined Community Webs back in 2017, data the same year the North San Francisco Bay was hit by devastating wildfires. Realizing that much of the stories, video and information about the emergency response, aftermath and recovery efforts was being shared online and constantly changing, we sensed the urgency to capture stories as the crisis unfolded and the community navigated new territory. We received our new Archive-It account and started learning by doing, creating the “North Bay Fires, 2017” collection.

One of the first websites we archived was cartoonist Brian Fies’ blog, The Fies Files, where he posted a webcomic that he penned in the days following the fire that consumed his house and much of the neighborhood of Coffey Park. He later published it as a graphic memoir called A Fire Story. Preserving the first draft from his blog, we have also saved the numerous comments elicited by his powerful and intimate account.