Loving fire with fire: Humor, horniness and happiness inhabit post-CZU film


Ecosexual artists Beth Stephens (left) and Annie Sprinkle visit Big Basin Redwoods State Park to investigate the new growth four years after the CZU fires. Credit: "Playing With Fire," cinematography by Jordan Freeman

Five years after the fact, memories of and reflections on the CZU Lightning Complex fires in Santa Cruz County almost always come through a scrim of tragedy and loss — though, as time goes on, that sense of tragedy is, for many, ripening into a kind of fatalism or bittersweet wistfulness.

Last modified: Aug 26, 2025