Incredible time-lapse shows the ethereal world of California wildfires

Up close and personal, wildfires are tragic and terrifying. But if you can step away from the chaos and capture things from a wider perspective, they can become a thing of beauty.

No one knows this better than filmmaker Jeff Frost, who has spent the past three years capturing dozens of wildfires across the Golden State and has turned them into a time-lapse.

Frost calls the project, ‘Fire Chasers: California on Fire,’ a fast and furious name for the 25 wildfires he’s shot thus far in California.

In speaking to National Geographic, Frost shared the reasoning behind the project:

As each year gets hotter and fire season in the state continues to expand, I have become increasingly concerned about our continued existence on this planet […] I wanted to show what we are up against right now, let alone down the road when global warming intensifies heat and drought which will further exacerbate wildfires

In addition to the above time-lapse, which is serving as a teaser and trailer of sorts, the project will consist of a feature-length documentary, an art film on how the project came to be and a book that highlights the destruction of wildfires and the hard work of the firefighters who brave the blaze to keep it under control.