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Wildfires...the usual mortal danger
August 11, 2006Okay...if you are my girlfriend or my mom, you might not want to read this one.
Long story short...it's just another tale of me getting squarely in the middle of mortal danger. That's my job I guess. Showing the stuff that hopefully moves the casual newspaper reader to say something like...
"Oh my gosh, how'd he get that."
Case in point...there was a pretty big wildfire south of Electra yesterday. I, of course, resisted going because we've pretty much beaten grass fires to death at the paper here.
My boss has pretty much said that we shouldn't bother with these almost daily menaces unless there are lives and homes in danger. Most of the time, these fires are in rural areas where the only thing to burn is open prairie and scrub brush.
I completely agree. We do that every now and then up here...get 1 topic in our heads that we think we need a picture of every day. Gas prices on signs, something showing that it's hot, yada yada.
Anyways, so I finally gave up and went up there. Now, granted, this was a larger fire than most that we've had, maybe 2000 acres or so. But it was in the middle of nowhere.
I'm clearly driving towards the fire as it's advancing towards me. The smoke was drifting north...and I was driving from the north towards it. I stop to snap a couple of shots of the smoke plume towering over me and starting to block out the sun.
I've got this huge map that shows all the county roads and dirt roads through oil leases and whatnot...very up to date. So...I'm cruising on FM 2384 south, parallel to the fire...and realize that I've gone past it. I pulled a u-turn and came back to a dirt road that obviously heads right into the fire.
This road goes straight west...but then makes a hard southward turn. I knew that I wouldn't be able to make that turn, surely the police would be there blocking me.
So, here I am, with a decision to make. This is clearly the only road that is going to get me close enough, quick enough to the action to do my job and take photographs other than a plume of smoke in the distance.
This is also clearly going to put me right in the path of a fast-moving and dangerous wildfire. Not beside it...IN THE PATH OF. I started driving down that dirt road.
Then I stopped. I'm about 200 yards from 15-20 foot flames jumping around the mesquite. I didn't want to go any farther. I stayed in my truck for a minute and just watched as a few fire trucks cruised past me and turned into a field.
For no apparent reason...I hit the gas. I started up that road again and came close to the intersection where my dirt road went south. There was another dirt road that went north. I decided THAT would be my escape route when I needed it.
I bailed out of my aptly named Escape and ran towards a fence where three dozen head of cattle had run towards trying to escape the flames. That's when the whole thing flared up right in front of me. Close enough to feel the heat and sense the terror in the cattle.
I'll be honest...in that moment, I was scared too. I looked behind me up the road I had just traveled down...and the fire had jumped it about 300 yards behind me. The main head of the blaze had split and I was in between them. One of my two routes out of there was gone.
It is really an amazing sensation when you are standing face to face with a power of nature like this. Even though I was standing in the smoke field...I don't remember smelling smoke until I was on the way home. But the sounds were unreal. Just the crackling and whooshing sound alone gives me chills thinking about it.
I made a couple of other photographs and sprinted back to my truck because the fire had jumped the road heading south and was quickly cutting across a field that would block my path to the north. I took one last shot before David Duke said that "I'd better evacuate the area...now."
I went north....fast. I've seen wildfires cut across open prairie at 50 mph....and heard of it going up to 70 mph if the wind is right. I knew that I didn't want any part of what was about to happen there.
I drove up to Hwy. 25 and found a nice vantage point overlooking the area I was just in and the 1000s of acres already charred. I pulled out the big lens and waited for a good flare up at the head of the fire. Well...the fire didn't disappoint.
These flames are easily between 15-30 feet high. I'm looking at them from a distance of several hundred yards....maybe 600-800. And they were huge on the landscape.
Sometimes I wonder why on earth I do stuff like that...putting myself squarely in harm's way for the sake of a good photograph. I've never really been a good casual observer.
Mom...Courtney...if you DID go ahead and read this, I'm sorry. I'd like to tell you that it won't happen again....but it will.
And I'll be out there somewhere in the middle of it.
Posted by Jason Palmer at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Comments
OK, I understand taking those risks for the job. Please be safe. I know that when a trauma is going on i am right down there trying to get in the middle to see whats going on.
wow
