Fire Pictures

Sculpture by Jeff Powell

Original artwork in stone, metal, and who knows what else

Fire Pictures

Back in 2002 we had a large fire relatively close to our home here in the Santa Cruz Mountains - the Croy Fire. At the time I was pretty nervous about it, and watched it closely. And I took some photos too, just because I could.

I'm no photo journalist, but the event both interested and horrified me. I put those pictures up on the web simply because I could, and because it was a way for my family to see them.

A few years later - in 2005 - I joined Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire & Rescue, specifically so I could assist with the work of putting things like the Croy fire out. Occasionally I get the chance now to take pictures at other incidents. It isn't often, but it does happen, so I've started keeping them here too.

I hope the frequency of these events in our area stays low - their consequences are awful - but I'll continue to work with the team to get them out as quickly as we can.

If you have any questions about these pictures, please use the Contact button above to send them to me.

Click on any thumbnail picture below to see a larger copy.

Indians Fire - June 2008

The Indians fire burned for a very long time in the Ventana National Wilderness Area, nearly 100 miles south of our home. Shortly after it started, I saw an odd, sharp edged smoke plume above us, and that lead to these pictures.

I never worked this fire in any way, but it clearly affected people in the Bay Area.

Summit Fire - May 2008

The Summit Fire was far and away the closest fire to our home in the time we've lived here. It was perhaps five miles east of us, and was pushed to the south by the wind, thus keeping it away from our immediate area.

On the morning the fire started I was essentially the third firefighter on a rig that seats only two, so I didn't get to go. (The initial location of the fire wasn't certain, and it was being handled by Santa Clara county, rather than Santa Cruz County, so our department was only asked for a water tender. We staffed our station non stop for several days after this incident got started, but our services were more useful handling other events in the area, rather than sending us all to work the Summit Fire.)

I didn't get back to the fire until 3 days later, by which time it was mostly under control. We did a water tender shift, topping up tanks and engines for the evening. At one point I took this photo when we had a moment.

Lick Fire - Sept 2007

In 2007 I spent one day working the helibase at the lick fire. Loma Prieta's water tender - WT3651 - was assigned to be part of a crash/rescue team at the helibase during this incident, so we sent it out there in the morning and came home in the evening.

I never saw the actual fire, but these photos show some of the helicopters working the fire along with the environment we were operating in.

Croy Fire - Sept 2002

I took these pictures of the Croy fire from Summit Road, looking basically east on Sept 25, 2002. This was the day before this part of Summit Road was closed to everyone but residents and emergency equipment. These pictures were taken about noon, I think. I wasn't taking notes, so that's plus or minus an hour or more.

The fire at this point is about 8 miles from my house, and the winds are calm, as you can see from the smoke.

For more info on the fire, see the CDF Croy Fire Incident Page.