RHH's photos with the keyword: fire

There are several reasons for posting this photo, taken from the top of Booth Hill, the highest point in our area at 898 meters. The first reason has to do with the wildfire, the Gray Fire, that destroyed so many acres and homes here recently. The facility in the foreground is Lakeland Village, a residential home for handicapped persons and the place our son lives. The fire, as is evident from the photo, burned right up to Lakeland, but the firefighters managed to prevent the fire from burning any of the buildings on the grounds. The fire then burned to the left of the photo and into the city of Medical Lake destroying many homes. The second reason for posting this is that we learned in connection with the fire that buildings at the top of the hill, almost all of which were destroyed by the fire, were part of an old Nike surface-to-air missile site, built during the Cold War. The missiles were sited there to protect nearby Fairchild Air Force Base, still operational and for that reason the ill is also known as Nike Hill. Though the site has long been abandoned by the military, the buildings were still in use by the family that owned the property and used it to restore and sell old cars.

This hill, known as Booth Hill or Nike Hill, is the highest point in our area. The wildfire that swept through the area recently, the Gray Fire, started in the wheat fields to the southwest of the hill, burned up over the hill and headed for Lakeland Village, a facility for handicapped persons. The firefighters saved Lakeland, but the fire went around it and burned to the northeast into the city of Medical Lake where nearly 200 homes were destroyed. The fire also destroyed the communications towers, a junkyard of old cars and te buildings at the top of Booth Hill, though by the time this photo was taken the communications facilities had already been rebuilt.

Taken Friday, this is a photo of what is now called the Gray Fire (it started near Gray Road in the area of the photograph). At this point the fire was to the west of us and we thought we were safe, but after burning past the facility where our handicapped son lives and leaving the facility miraculously untouched, the fire burned to the northeast and into the town of Medical Lake destroying 185 homes. At that point the wind changed and the fire began to burn to the east, jumping two lakes and burning many more homes (52 of 60 near Silver Lake). When the fire reached the interstate highway, I90, it turned southwest heading in our direction and we were ordered to evacuate. We stayed Friday and Saturday evening at our church's apartment and returned home last night, though most of our neighbors have stayed away. The fire burned right up to our back fence as the PIP shows (it was taken yesterday), but the firefighters, our heroes, managed to establish a line there and our house and the houses of our neighbors were spared. The report is that three homes in our area did burn, but most were saved though the fire burned all the land around the homes. The interstate highway is still closed as are many other roads in our area and the worry is now that looters will move in, one of the reasons we came home and are watching the homes of our neighbors. It is also very smoky still in our area, but we are keeping windows closed and it is tolerable in the house.

This was our backyard Saturday evening when I managed to get home and get a few more things from our house. The photo is of our back fence and garden and shows how close the fire came. Our home and the homes of our immediate neighbors were spared though three homes in the area did burn. These firefighters, many of whom had not slept for several days, are our heroes, and are the ones who saved our homes and the homes of our neighbors. We cannot thank them enough. This was the only photo I took on World Photography Day for obvious reasons. We were thinking of other things besides photography that day. It is not the greatest photo, but certainly encapsulates the day for us, when we came as close as ever we have come to losing our home and possessions. The fire is now out in our area and we are getting some rain for the first time in three months, so our situation has improved dramatically since the photo was taken.

We had an exciting day yesterday. We have been very hot and dry (no rain for three months) and have been worried about fires. Noticed smoke to the west and north of us and went to find out what was happening. A wildfire had started on the west side of Booth Hill, shown in the PIP, and burned up and over the hill, burning the cell phone towers and communications facilities on the hill as well. When I first saw the fire it was burning down the hills toward the facility where our handicapped son lives. I could not access the facility but was assured by a policeman that the facility was being evacuated and went way around through the town of Medical Lake to find where our son was. In the town discovered that winds had whipped up the fire and it was already on the outskirts of town. The fire burned part of the town of Medical Lake and many home and other structures to the east. The facility where our son lives was spared and no one was injured there. Our home and the neighborhood we live in were also spared, but at least one person has died in the fire and many are displaced or now homeless. The Interstate, I90, is closed and so are the roads in our area. After finding and speaking to our son at another facility, Eastern State Hospital, where he had been evacuated, I went around to the west and south of the fire and arrived back home only to discover that we were under and evacuation order and had to get out. We already had some things ready to go, loaded the car and are now in Spokane waiting to get back home, who knows when. An update: The fire is now very near our home on the east and north and we do not know if the house will survive. We are all safe and waiting to find out if anything will be left. 185 homes burned in the town to our north. The interstate highway is still closed for about 25 miles and all the roads in our area are closed, so there is no possibility of getting near our home or to the facility where our son lives.

We had an exciting day yesterday. We have been very hot and dry (no rain for three months) and have been worried about fires. Noticed smoke to the west and north of us and went to find out what was happening. A wildfire had started on the west side of Booth Hill, shown here and burned up and over the hill, burning the cell phone tower and communications facility on the hill as well. When I first saw the fire it was burning down the hills toward the facility where our handicapped son lives. I could not access the facility but was assured by a policeman that the facility was being evacuated and went way around through the town of Medical Lake to find where our son was. In the town discovered that winds had whipped up the fire and it was already on the outskirts of town, After finding and speaking to our son at another facility, Eastern State Hospital, where he had been evacuated, I went around to the west and south of the fire and arrived back home only to discover that we were under and evacuation order and had to get out. We already had some things ready to go, loaded the car and are now in Spokane waiting to get back home, who knows when. The fire burned part of the town of Medical Lake and many home and other structures to the east. The facility where our son lives was spared and no one was injured there. Our home and the neighborhood we live in were also spared, but at least one person has died in the fire and many are displaced or now homeless. The Interstate Highway, I90 is closed and so are the roads in our area.

Yosemite National Park was ravaged by fire in 2009. This is a remnant of those fires in the Big Oak Flat area. We hiked there when some of the other trails were closed.

I've posted other photos of this wildfire in Banff National Park in Alberta, but we are getting close to that season again and are wondering what it will bring for us and for the Northwest. We had two fires within a mile or two of our house and several others, more serious, in our area last summer. In fact, the last few years have seen fires all over the Pacific Northwest and it seems sometimes that the whole area is burning. Hotter, drier summers have brought this increase and it is likely to continue. I have to work on a firebreak around our property, removing some dead trees and a lot of brush this summer and these photos are certainly a reminder of the work I have to do. The photos were taken as we were driving up through Banff to Jasper on a 2014 trip through the Canadian Rockies. We noticed smoke near Saskatchewan Crossing along Highway 11 and decided to investigate. At first we only saw some small fires in the distance and helicopters with buckets fighting the fire. As we were taking photos, however, the wind kicked up and suddenly the fire was near the road and we could feel its heat. We decided we had better get out and as we did several cars and motorcycles that had passed us returned and the people who were fighting the fire had come and were closing the road. This fire, known as the Spreading Creek Wildfire, was started by a lightning strike and burned for over two weeks. It scorched nearly 9000 hectares of forest and was made worse by winds and dry weather. It was only one of many wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon and California that year. Indeed, there were times when the fires were so bad that the air quality deteriorated to the point that masks or staying indoors with windows shut were necessary. It seemed at times that sore throats from the poor air quality were a matter of course and only the autumn rains and cooler weather brought relief.

This was the view behind us as we drove back up Highway 11 in Banff after driving down it to watch a wildfire near Saskatchewan crossing. We were in the Canadian Rockies on a 2014 trip through several of the parks and had stopped to watch this fire when the fire came close to the road and forced us to leave very quickly.

This helicopter was fighting photographed in 2014 near Saskatchewan crossing fighting a wildfire in that area, dipping water out of the North Saskatchewan River and dumping it on hot spots. We had to leave the area shortly after the photo was taken when the fire kicked up and approached the road we were on. The photo was taken by my wife.

This was what we witnessed in 2014 when the wildfire in Banff near Saskatchewan Crossing approached the road we were on and forced us to get out of the area. We had driven down Highway 11 to watch the fire but that did not last long and when the fire came near the road we had to get out quickly. At this point we could feel the heat of the fire.

When we drove down Highway 11 in Banff National Park in Alberta in 2014 to watch a wildfire there, this is what we first saw. The fire seemed to be under control and far from the road. There was little flame, though a lot of smoke, and helicopters were dipping water out of the river and dumping it on hot spots. When the wind came up, however, the fire roared back to life and was soon near the road forcing us to leave.

"Australia burns!" That was what one of the men who were setting these controlled burns said when we asked about the fires. Taken along the Davies Creek Road in Dinden National Park, this is one of my wife's photos.

This picture is from the second day of our Australia trip. We had driven from Cairns to the Atherton Tablelands and explored the area of Davies Creek. While there the employees of the Department of National Parks were lighting fires all along the road to burn the underbrush and rejuvenate the vegetation. It seemed to us that most of the park was on fire but no one, campers, hikers or drivers seemed bothered by it all and we noticed that the fires very quickly burned themselves out. When talking to one of the people involved, he not only explained what they were doing, but made the statement, "Australia burns" to explain the need for these fires. They certainly made a spectacular sight and did not interfere with our day's activities, except that one trail was closed.

We were traveling up Highway 93 through Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies and had crossed the Saskatchewan River when we noticed smoke from a forest fire over the river and country to the east. Just beyond the river Highway 93 intersected Highway 11 and we decided to travel down Highway 11 to see whatever was visible of the fire. We were warned that there was a lot of smoke and that we should drive carefully. After traveling through an area where we could see the remains of the fire in the distance we saw helicopters with buckets scooping water from a nearby lake and dumping it on the fire not far south of the road. We stopped to take pictures of the copters when suddenly the wind kicked up and all of a sudden the fire was roaring in the trees right next to the road and we could feel the heat. It was obvious that the fire was coming toward us and we got away as quickly as possible. As we left we found that they were closing the road just to the west. We later learned that the fire had been started by lightning on July 3rd and actually did burn into Banff before being contained. The fire is now known as the Spreading Creek Wildfire and continues to burn though it classified as "contained." This is one of the last pictures we took before driving away.

In Explore February 16, 2010, #38. Had a big day yesterday. For those who know Vancouver, we walked from near Vancouver General Hospital where my daughter has her apartment across the Granville Street bridge and along the waterfront all the way around Stanley Park to the Olympic cauldron on the downtown waterfront and then back through town and across the Cambie Bridge to her apartment. It was a disappointment to find that the cauldron is surrounded by a cheap and ugly eight-foot-high chain-link fence which makes it very difficult even to get pictures - this was taken through the fence late in the afternoon. Another, better, picture taken by my son, Edward can be found at this location: www.flickr.com/photos/8686966@N02/4365840963/

Taken by a campfire while on a two-night camping trip last spring with a group of 6-8th graders at Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island. This was one of the few pictures of the fire that was good enough IMO to post. I'm fascinated by campfires, as I suppose everyone is, and always try to get pictures, but few of them turn out. I liked the simplicity of this picture as well as the pattern that the flames made climbing up a stick of wood.

This is the old fire lookout at the top of Winchester Mountain. It is now maintained as a place for hikers to stay overnight and when we were there early in the morning there were several people occupying it. Mount Baker is in the background. ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t... ronaldhanko-orchidhunter.blogspot.com/2012/10/hiking-in-t...