The ceremony, held at Courthouse Square in Downtown Santa Rosa included speeches from reporters, first responders, elected officials and artists impacted by the 2017 fires.

Sonoma County residents gathered in Courthouse Square Monday night to observe the first anniversary of the Sonoma Complex fires that killed 24 county residents and 20 more in Napa and Mendocino counties.

Adults and children made drawings and wrote words in chalk on the sidewalk and the paved center of the square that recalled the horror of the firestorm the night of Oct. 8-9, 2017, and the grief of losing homes and loved ones and the hope of healing and recovery.

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