On and On, 'Til the Break a' Dawn

Wind fueled craziness almost every day this week. And fire season doesn't end until October.

Winds

The scariest fire I've been on all summer burned through the heart of Redding yesterday. Gusty winds pushed a fire down a gully and into town next to the river and botanical gardens. It didn't get any houses, but it had the potential too.

CANALS

Look familiar?

New Mexico

I've run into firefighters from New Zealand, Wisconsin, etc., but was yet to run into my people from New Mexico. That was until yesterday, when I ran into the Gila Hotshots. Problem is, they didn't know that the media in California can pretty much go anywhere we want. I showed up and they got super scared and pretty much escorted me out. It wasn't worth dragging it out, but the Forest Service got a piece of my mind later that night for not letting people know the rules. I drove 200 miles and came back with 20 frames. That makes me mad.

A Moment of Silence

At 7 p.m. last night, all firefighters on the Iron Complex (the complex of fires where the helicopter crashed) stopped working and took a minute to remember the firefighters who died in the crash. This crew was out working on the west end of Buckhorn Fire. The helicopter went down on the north end of the same fire.

From the sky

We went up to try and get photos of the helicopter crash site outside of Redding. It was too smokey and they wouldn't let us below 10,000 feet because other aircraft were in the area. But another photographer was able to get in yesterday. I pray fire season ends soon so everyone can go home safe.

We run on a lot of breaking news