On March 1, 2024, a fierce winter storm tore into Mendocino County , delivering high winds, rain and lightning. Major routes became impassable. Thousands lost power. By the storm’s end, the tiny mountain town of Leggett would never be the same.

At 5:45 p.m., lightning struck a redwood tree towering above the Leggett Post Office, bringing its splinters down onto a power line and igniting the roof. By sundown, the post office — Leggett’s community hub — lay “devastated,” said Kristina Uppal, a spokeswoman for the United States Postal Service. Now, the town’s few dozen residents face a 50-mile round trip to pick up their mail in Garberville, across the Humboldt County line.

Eight months later, despite efforts by the United States Postal Service and the New York-based building owner, Postal Realty Trust, the rebuild is nowhere near completion. In the aftermath, the empty lot and scarred redwood tree stood as a stark reminder of what the community had lost.

After lightning struck a redwood tree in Leggett, Calif., the small town’s post office went up in flames.

In a town as small and close-knit as Leggett, quick pleasantries between residents while they grab their mail are a big deal. For John Stephenson, owner of Leggett’s renowned drive-through tree and a Leggett native, the post office isn’t just another building; it’s the core of the community.

“Sure, we’ve got a store and a gas station, but the post office is kind of the hub,” he said. “It’s the heart of our little town — where everyone sees everybody, like them or not.”

Inspired to reclaim the charred tree as a beacon of his hometown’s resilience, Stephenson hired a chain saw artist to transform it into a piece of lasting art, and a tribute to the storm that altered Leggett’s story.

Soon after the fire, Stephenson gathered a crew to start clearing debris from the post office site. He noticed that the towering redwood beside the mailroom was now just a charred, splintered trunk standing 50 feet in the air. He thought, “We should probably do something.”

Fortunately, chain saw artist Dayton Scoggins was due in town soon, visiting from Mississippi. Stephenson has known Scoggins for more than a decade, since they met at a chain saw competition in Reedsport, Oregon. Since then, Scoggins has made regular trips to Mendocino County, where he’s crafted unique sculptures for Stephenson from the stumps of trees at Drive-Thru Tree Park.

Dayton Scoggins, the chain saw artist, used the entirety of the leftover tree in Leggett, Calif., as his canvas.

The chain saw artist made sure to etch “Leggett, CA, 95585” onto the remains of the redwood honoring the post office that once stood there.

Stephenson had planned to have Scoggins carve some more pieces for his business on this trip, but he pivoted, commissioning Scoggins to make something for the whole town instead. His assignment was specific: Scoggins was to carve a California bear, the powerful symbol of the state, into the front of the tree. And he wanted the sculpture to have the town’s name and ZIP code embedded in it.

When Scoggins arrived in Leggett a few weeks after the March storm, he examined the trunk and realized the lightning had done far more than just scar the surface.

“The tree was busted up so bad,” Scoggins explained, in his thick Mississippi accent. “The lightning must’ve gone right down the center and blew it apart in chunks — like a big wedge had split it in four.”

There were only sections of the trunk that were still workable.

So, Scoggins modified his approach.

“We couldn’t get the bear in the front like planned, so we had to adjust,” he told SFGATE. Over the course of three days, he carved carefully around the tree’s shattered edges, coaxing out the form of a bear on all fours.

A side profile of the big-bellied bear shows the level of detail Dayton Scoggins, the chain saw artist, is able to attain with his creations.

In September, he returned to finish the second phase of the project, carving a big-bellied bear seated upright, its profile extending proudly from the tree. Scoggins also finished texturing the upper reaches of what remained of the once mighty redwood.

Isaac Richter, executive vice president of Postal Realty Trust, has spent over two decades working with communities across America, from remote mountain towns to major cities. His company owns and operates thousands of properties leased by the U.S. Postal Service.

“A lot of people are surprised to learn that two-thirds of post offices are privately owned and leased to the government,” he told SFGATE. Of the 32,000 post office locations nationwide, about 25,000 are owned by private entities, Richter explained.

Within weeks of the Leggett Post Office fire, Richter joined the local community Facebook group. “I wanted to make myself available to the community,” he said. He added that he understands the town’s frustration surrounding the rebuilding process. From what he has seen, rebuilding a post office after a disaster takes 18 to 24 months and his company is “working to expedite that.” Richter described the project as “convoluted” and requiring coordination among several agencies.

On Sept. 28, the Leggett Valley School library filled with community members eager to hear about the post office rebuild. Tonie Traina, clerk of the Leggett Valley Unified School District Board, brewed coffee, set out pastries and arranged chairs for the residents who’d gathered to meet Rick Wise, a contractor from Laytonville leading the rebuild. Before the event began, Traina told SFGATE the night of the storm as the “scariest night of my life.”

Another one of Leggett Valley Mercantile’s signs, adorned with a California poppy.

Rick Wise, the contractor in charge of the Leggett Post Office rebuild, presents preliminary plans to town residents.

Wise laid out blueprints across a library table and shared his vision for the new post office, describing it as “a standard building, a small standard building for a post office.” The design would be “generic, similar to what it was,” he said, and clad in fire-resistant Hardie board.

One community member chimed in, suggesting that the structure’s design incorporate features like battens or roof parapets to echo the style of the Leggett Valley Mercantile, the town’s only market, which is located right next door to the former post office. Many feared it too might go up in flames in the March storm. Wise nodded, agreeing to work these elements into the plan if feasible.

For Traina, just like for all the residents of Leggett, the rebuild project is personal. Having to make a 50-mile round trip to Garberville just to send her mail is taking a toll. “My bills are normally late now because driving a 50-mile round trip is just something I don’t have the time and energy (and for others, the money) to do as often as necessary,” she said. “I hope it hasn’t impacted my credit score.”

An empty lot with a visible foundation is all that’s left of the Leggett Post Office.

For now, she said, the beauty of Scoggins’ carving in the tree helps soften the blow. It was “a very generous gift from John Stephenson of the drive-through tree to our community,” she said, adding that she’s “only heard compliments from our community.” Tourists frequently stop to take photos in front of the sculpture, she added.