Smoky California Wildfire Pictures
While coming home from Long Beach on Highway 60
I’ve seen wildfires from a distance, but never this close. I took these wildfire photos on our way home to Palm Springs from Long Beach on Highway 60. It was a hot, windy day; the hills were dry, the perfect conditions for a wildfire. This fire had just started and escalated quickly. Traffic was stopped and rerouted. I took the following pictures from the car with the windows closed because of the smoke.
Wildfires cause more than 33,000 deaths globally each year. People cause ninety percent of wildfires in the U.S. — campfires left unattended, burning debris, cigarettes, downed power lines, and intentional acts. Natural causes include sparks from rockfalls and spontaneous combustion.
California is the number one state for extreme wildfire risk. There are two million properties in jeopardy. Between nine and ten thousand fires a year, with over two million acres burned. Downed power lines caused the Camp Fire (2018) in Butte County. It was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, costing $16.5 billion in damage and burning more than 18,000 buildings.
The first responders in wildfires include firefighters, EMTs, and police officers. Below is the green truck of the Hotshot crew, skilled in wildfire containment via controlled burns, along with the traditional red firetruck assuring our safety. For larger fires, and in hard to reach areas, helicopters douse fires with gallons of water and fire retardardant.
~Surfers of the Burning Fields, by Mark Tulin~
Heroes manning shovels and picks, fighting fire with fire in those bright yellow glory suits; walking on flames like a messiah
Outnumbered soldiers fighting fire from the ground; responding to a crisis in a moment’s notice, no matter what the cost
They’re superheroes of all faiths and colors The ultimate team players as the helicopters discharge gallons of flame-retardant, in a waterfall of streaming colors
Hotshots circling the sea of flames, digging boundaries, clearing the brush, and scraping the ground to the bare bone
Like surfers of the burning fields, the hotshots try to manage nature’s unpredictable forces — trying to stop the enemy in its tracks.
© 2022 Mark Tulin