Fire. The wild kind. (pic heavy)

[mhambi]

Hi! I haven't been around a ton this spring/summer, but thought y'all might enjoy seeing this. This is from the Wood Hollow Fire in central Utah. We were evacuated for 3 or so days. Always a fun time having someone show up and say you have 30 minutes to get out.

The good news is that the fire is out and no damage to our place... though several people I know lost everything.

This was Sunday at the house, about 15min before the Sheriffs Deputy showed up...

On our way out... sorry about some of these pics... they were taken on the fly, usually out a window or through the windshield.

 

[mhambi]

The follow were from the first day I was able to get back to my house. It's also the day when the north end of the fire blew up because of wind.

There really wasn't much smoke noticable on the way down, which was encouraging. This picture was the first we really noticed it. Remember that green roof on the left for later...

Coming out into the valley proper and man, the fire didn't look near as bad as in times past. Really just one major pocket, with several smaller hot spots here and there. They had really done some good work!

Then the winds really started. We'd been at my house for about 40 minutes from the last pic and this is what it was turning into...

Line of flames

Time to get back outta Dodge. Worried they might shut down the highway again.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Terrible situation, but great pictures

 

[mhambi]

...and yes, I know I need to clean my sensor. lol

my neighbor - he came ok... but that's too close for comfort

then it turned into a race to get to the head of the valley before they shut everything down. We followed a convoy of about 30 emergency vehicles that were racing up to start staging to protect some houses.

Going through the smoke

Looking back...

Remember that green roof?

 

[mhambi]

Indian Ridge.. one of the hardest hit as far residences lost. Oaker Hills is to the left (the other hard hit area)

The following pics are all from the north end of the fire... the one that blew up on my previous trip down to check on things. Looks like they did an admirable job of keeping the structures safe.

The North end...

 

[mhambi]

47,387 acres burned
Residences lost: 52
Outbuildings lost: 108

One civilian was killed in the fire


Cause? Some (deleted to keep it family friendly ) had stolen copper ground lines from multiple power poles. An arc traveled down a guy wire instead and sparked the blaze.



Anyway, things are slowly returning to normal. A good reminder though of the power of fire!

 

[jwoair23]

Unbelievable pictures, thanks for sharing, wildfires are not something we ever experience here, and I have never seen a series of pictures like this from this vantage point.

Really glad you and your family/house were OK!

 

[Defiant]

Wow!! Thanks for sharing, what a disaster, nice photo's and glad you and family are safe

 

[fishingpol]

Thanks for putting these up. It is hard to fathom a fire that large. Around here there are occassionally small ones along the highway that might take an acre or two, but that's about it.

 

[fossil]

Yeah, that was a bad fire. Anytime even one home is destroyed it's a tragedy. I'm very happy for mhambi & family. Very sad for others. For us out here in the dry climes of the West, wildfire is an everpresent danger. C'mon out west and see it for yourselves...

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/

Here are a couple of fires in Colorado earlier this year, perhaps you missed the news...600 homes, half a $Billion in property damage:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...8m-in-damage/2012/07/17/gJQAVSEWrW_story.html

 

[ironpony]

when I lived on Long Island we had a fire in the pine barrens, nothing like yours, but it was scary enough. probably 200 feet from the house, I had the garden hose read, like that was going to do anything
ahh to be young and dumb again

 

[firebroad]

Oh My Grandmothers, you must have thought it was the end of the world. Glad you are all safe, as well as your home.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for sharing . . . it's hard to imagine trying to fight a fire of that scale. Glad you and your family came through unharmed and unscathed.

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

Maybe living in the Boston area isn't so bad...

 

[blacktail]

Humbling.

 

[bogydave]

Awesome pics.
It still looks pretty dry there, not much left to burn though. Sad.
Thanks

 

[Eatonpcat]

Wow...Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you and your property made it through the fire safely!

 

[lukem]

I was in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of SD last week. They had a very small lighting-sparked fire on one of the mountains. I was minding my own business and a chopper swooped down and got a bucket full of water out of one of the lakes. It was really amazing to see those guys work.

I'm glad you made it through with your person and property intact.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Indian Ridge.. one of the hardest hit as far residences lost. Oaker Hills is to the left (the other hard hit area)

The following pics are all from the north end of the fire... the one that blew up on my previous trip down to check on things. Looks like they did an admirable job of keeping the structures safe.

The North end...

Buy the guys/ gals that did the mobile attack a beer. They deserve it. Good job on their part. glad you came through OK.

 

[osagebow]

Glad you made it out ok - these pics fit the wonderful proverb in your signature line, what dialect is it?

 

[MasterMech]

47,387 acres burned
Residences lost: 52
Outbuildings lost: 108

One civilian was killed in the fire


Cause? Some (deleted to keep it family friendly ) had stolen copper ground lines from multiple power poles. An arc traveled down a guy wire instead and sparked the blaze.



Anyway, things are slowly returning to normal. A good reminder though of the power of fire!

And here's hoping that the men and women fighting that fire all made it out alive and well.

 

[save$]

Glad you have your home intact. Good lesson to learn about the need to have anything you need to have in a spot you can grab and go.

 

[mhambi]

Thanks all for the kind words. Definitely a eye opening experience!

Glad you made it out ok - these pics fit the wonderful proverb in your signature line, what dialect is it?

Swahili.