As millions of people watched videos of fires and smoke filling the skies on the edge of Los Angeles this past January, Fresno State anthropology associate professor and forensic investigator Dr. Chelsey Juarez was amazed at how different the view could be once she got there.
From her tent at a Palisades Fire emergency response base, the view was clear as powerful Santa Ana winds, some of which gusted over 60 to 100 mph, were often pushing the fire away. That meant she could barely smell smoke or see the glow of the fast-moving fire hidden in other parts of the coastal range.
However, when she went on call each day at 6 a.m., that view could quickly change as she answered calls from search teams. They were looking for human remains in once-picturesque areas that were now flattened and blackened. Several times per day, searchers would ask her to come and inspect locations where cadaver dogs had detected specific scents, or to homes of people who had been reported missing…