Akira Kristiansen is the primary character in the Sierra Nevada, California storyline. She grew up on a remote mountain property and is very knowledgeable about her natural surroundings as well as how to survive in a crisis, skills that she learned from her father Lars. She is depicted as an independent and strong-willed girl, who first believes that she would be better off in the fire if she could be alone with her beloved horse Dodger, rather than with Sue, a stranger who she first judges as weak.

Although she appears standoffish at first, her awkwardness toward Sue is revealed to be the result of shyness, and she describes herself as completely friendless apart from Dodger and her sister’s babysitter Patience, who moved away several years prior. Sue becomes her main source of growth throughout the story as she learns to interact, work together, and become friends with another human her age.

Akira has strong opinions about climate change from the beginning of the book and is particularly concerned about wildfires. At first, she is swayed by her father’s denial; she does not call Cal Fire when she first sees Morris starting despite her worry that it will rage out of control.