If your name is Mom or Chelsea, Ignore these pictures

If you are not my mother or Chelsea, then by all means, have a look at the pictures below (they both say I need to ask for safer assignments).

There were two BIG wildfires a couple of weeks ago in the Reno area that were sparked by a trailer with a flat tire being dragged down the highway.  By the time the fires were contained, they had already burned almost 12,000 acres and cost something like $3.4 million to fight (compare that to the small 14 acre fire I shot earlier).  I still find it amazing that one little spark can do so much damage out here.

I was sort of on the night shift when it came to these fires.  I went to them in the evening and usually stayed out there until 1 or 2 a.m.  That was fine with me since daytime temps were around 100 degrees and wearing fire gear is no fun in the heat.

It was a challenge to get pictures at night though.  I wasn’t close enough to the fire to get shots of firefighters working and it was pretty dark out to get anything else.  So, I painted with light for one photo, tried to shoot as much as possible with daylight still remaining, and did my best with the rest:

The sun sets on smoke rising above the Reno skyline from the Red Rock wildfire Thursday, July 16, 2009. (© John Schreiber/ Reno Gazette-Journal)

Pete Wobbe, Red Rock Volunteer Fire Department fire chief, takes a drink of water after getting off the fire line of the second of two wildfires sparked along Red Rock Road northeast of Reno Wednesday, July 15, 2009. (© John Schreiber/ Reno Gazette-Journal)

With air support suspended for the evening and the added problem of high winds, the Red Rock wildfire burns into the night northeast of Reno Wednesday, July 15, 2009. (© John Schreiber/ Reno Gazette-Journal)

And I am sorry, but I had to take a picture of myself looking like a complete dork in my fire gear.  Insert your comments in the comment section.  And if you are my mother, ignored the warnings, and are still reading this post, I really wasn’t that close to the fire– I promise.  Fire always looks more dramatic at night.

Dressed in some sweet fire retardant clothing and a stylish but practical fire helmet, Uber dork John Schreiber takes a self portrait at the Red Rock wildfire northeast of Reno Wednesday, July 15, 2009. (© John Schreiber)

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 2:17 PM. It is filed under Uncategorized and tagged with brush fire, Nevada wildfires, Red Rock, Red Rock wildfire, Reno wildfires, wildfire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.