Evening Grass Fire

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted February 17, 2014295 views6 comments

This fire was 300 acres and very actively running through grass in all directions as we circled it one evening, and the eight of us in the back waited nervously as the pilots and spotter debated whether or not to throw us, as it was getting pretty late and the light was fading. In the end they decided not to, and we ended up jumping it at sunrise the following morning, by which time it had grown to 1000 acres but was much less active. Circling low over this fire as evening turned to dusk was one of my fondest memories from the summer.

Olympus OM-D EM-5, 9-18mm lens

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on February 17, 2014 at 7:34 PM

Interesting safety call. Grass fires usually burn rapidly, but this one looks like it is backing down the ridge for the most part, burning slow (for grass) and cool. Do you have a picture of the fire when it was 1000 acres? The morning call was probably a wise one, considering it was just grass and no timber. Especially if it was a high humidity morning. Night work in hills sounds like a recipe for accidents.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on February 17, 2014 at 9:06 PM

I enjoy the documentary ‘feel’ of this shot. The fan-shaped fire edge interests me… wind, fuel and topo influenced. Including the prop and wing is a nice touch though if you could do another pass….lol….a little less wing by a 1/3 and more to the right side might be interesting. Nice vivid shadows and colors.

Always enjoy reading your account of fire strategy and followup actions. Dropping in the AM…. hey, a little more sleep on level ground…and a good meal for you. Bumped to 1000 acres by morning…whew…that’s a lot of night-creep. Hot ugly day shift work… I woulda fixated on night shift w/only a hand crew…then hope for no one to tumble or turn an ankle.

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Haney on February 17, 2014 at 9:19 PM

Philip, I don't think I took any photos of the fire the next morning from the air, probably because I was really focused on getting my bearings from the air before jumping because I knew we were going to scatter to the few active edges remaining after hitting the ground. It looks like it's moving pretty slow from 2000 ft, but when we did the low pass we were all pretty amazed at the 4-5 foot flame lengths coming from a backing fire.

Ken, Yeah we all were itching to jump that evening because it was just so darned beautiful and night work is so fun, but I'd say it was the right call. By morning, 80% of the edge had succumbed to the humidity, and we had a jumpspot that wasn't 100 ft from a burning edge! I just heard that I'm transferring to the West Yellowstone Smokejumpers, and I'm definitely looking forward to jumping into the Yellowstone backcountry!

Registered on April 7, 2013, 138 Posts, 537 Comments

Comment posted by gary phillips on February 18, 2014 at 1:59 AM

Great take on this from a jumper and firefighting prospective. Good luck in West Yellowstone, such beatiful country.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Carl Battreall on February 18, 2014 at 6:21 PM

Interesting perspective, I like it.

Registered on August 29, 2007, 24 Posts, 222 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on March 2, 2014 at 12:25 PM

Thomas,
I like this composition you captured and presented, this is also a really nice perspective.
Well done and congratulations on the WP . . .

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments