It was a quiet evening with a brilliant red sunset visible through the tall pines of Flagstaff, Arizona. I was sitting with my neighbor in my front yard, each of us enjoying an Old Fashioned and toasting to another hot summer day. As the sun passed below the horizon line, and night set in, we noticed some smoke to the south that had more form and definition than what we were used to. I brushed it off as another controlled burn and retired to my house for the evening. After getting my daughter to bed, I took to washing the dishes, including the glass I had just had my cocktail from. To my surprise, there were ashes in it, a sign of things to come.
Watch a radio tower camera filming as wildfire engulfs it
Wildfires have been raging in the West Coast of the US for over a month now. Oregon Department of Transportation recently shared a video captured with one of their radio tower cameras. It shows not only how fast the fire spreads, but the destruction of the camera itself was caught in the footage.
NASA satellite photo captures wildfire smoke in the US West Coast
The wildfires in the US West Coast have been raging for a while now, destroying a record 4 million acres in California so far. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the impressive, eye-opening, and above all devastating image of the fires that keep raging in the West.
This plane taking off into San Francisco orange skies looks like footage from Mars
Wildfires are still raging across the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The skies look surreal, making San Francisco look like Blade Runner. To show what it’s like to fly in the flaming red skies, San Francisco International Airport shared a timelapse video of an airplane taking off from one of its runways. And it looks like it wasn’t taken on this planet.
Smoke bomb causes massive California wildfires; photographers be cautious
There are multiple wildfires burning in California right now. The one in El Dorado, burning near Oak Glen in San Bernardino County, was reportedly caused by a smoke bomb. Cal Fire confirmed in a press release that the fire was caused at a gender reveal party, and it has burned over 12,000 acres so far.
NASA releases satellite imagery showing massive scale of the “Camp Fire” in California
The Camp Fire, named after the Camp Creek Road where it originated, is the most devastating wildfire in California’s history. Beginning on November 8th, Camp Fire spans more than 138,000 acres. It has decimated at least 8,000 buildings and claimed at least 50 lives with over 200 civilians still reported missing.
NASA has now released some high-resolution satellite images showing the scale of the wildfire. The image above shows Camp Fire in Butte County, California as soon from the Landsat 8 satellite on the morning of November 8th, 2018.
Drone catches fire upon landing, causes wildfire across 335 acres
We’ve heard of drones that made it difficult for firefighters to put out fires. But on Tuesday, 6 March, a drone was responsible for causing a wildfire. Just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona, a drone burst in flames upon landing, causing 335 acres of forest to burn.
Drone operator arrested in Arizona for interfering with firefighters. Again
On June 24, a man flew a drone over a forest fire in Prescott, Arizona. This caused eight fire-combating aircrafts to land, due to the increased risk for the pilots and the firefighters. Right after the incident, the investigation took place, and the authorities have now published that they’ve arrested the man.
According to AZ Central, Gene Alan Carpenter from Prescott Valley was arrested on charges of endangerment and unlawful operation of an unmanned aircraft. Among other things, he was charged based on the photos of Goodwin Fire he put on his website.
Pentax K-5 IIs gets covered with pink fire retardant, hosed off, and carries on shooting
I always find it interesting to read about the things cameras survive that the manufacturers could never have foreseen. X. Fire and ice, car crashes, months under the ocean, rocket engines, and even babies.
Photographer Brian Maneely recently discovered just how tough and sealed his Pentax K-5 IIs was. While photographing a wildfire, it was doused with pink fire retardant and then hosed off with water.
California wildfire ‘selfie’ arsonist gets 20 years and a $60 million fine
Selfies are just a part of our culture today, whether stills or video, but they have been known to land people in hot water a time or two. Sometimes the consequences are simply a little embarrassment, sometimes very severe (and rightly so).
In what seems more suited to ridicule on America’s Dumbest Criminals, California resident Wayne Allen Huntsman captured a video selfie with the beginnings of what would become known as the King Fire, a wildfire that scorched over almost 100,000 acres of land in El Dorado County, California in 2014.
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