I witnessed my first forest fire. I saw the world that's coming for us.

One family's tragedy and loss on a changing planet.

Smoke drifting over Highway 175. Photo by Jorge.

The fire started somewhere just below La Cumbre, a town whose name translates as “The Summit.” La Cumbre marks the spot where Highway 175, the sole road leading from Oaxaca City through the mountains of the Sierra Norte to Veracruz, culminates its vertiginous ascent out of the Oaxacan valley and barrels d…