Schultz Fire by Night

If you've been paying attention to national news, you might have heard of this wildfire burning next to Flagstaff, Arizona. I was on this side of town when the initial gouts of smoke started rising from the pass... unfortunately also over an hour away from my camera equipment. Check out George Stocking's take on the initial development of the fire for an idea of what this beast turned into within just a couple short hours. The smoke pillar was quite intimidating and due to its size, also obliterated any hope of assessing the actual size of the fire.

So I went back out yesterday evening to see what had happened in the intervening 24 hours. Understand that the fire initially started in a tightly forested mountain pass just off-screen, to the left. After hiking to the top of a small cinder hill, the sight that greeted me in the night was surreal. It is a wonder none of those homes you see in the foreground were destroyed. Needless to say, these mountains won't be the same for a long time.