Will the newspapers be interested in your photos?
I notice on Twitter that almost any event photos draw a lot of requests for permission from all the local media.

Happily, it was a warmer spring than a winter day for you to get fire hosed.

Intrepid Mira....... you go, gal!!!!

I'm betting it was a meth lab that blew up.

I'm trying to figure out that last photo. Plastic siding that melted off the particleboard?

it is the front side of the neighboring garage. The firemen were keeping the back side wet so that it would not catch fire. I think your idea of a meth lab is not far fetched. Now I go and read what's in the paper about this monumental fire, and this afternoon I'll drove over and see what I can see today. Don't we wish GWB had had some of my curiosity?
It's only about a mile and a half from where I live.

That must have been one hot fire. And I'm still betting on the meth lab.

It was a wooden structure built of pallets, that seems to have had many layers to it. It took THIRTEEN fire units to combat the fire. The worst problem was the density of the smoke, and they had to do a "reverse 9-11 call" to homes within 4 blocks telling folks to not come outside.

I think something really strange might have been going on or housed in that makeshift building, makes you wonder if Walter White is really dead.

Too bad we don't really have newspapers anymore, one or two of those would look good on the front page. The second shot and the one of the firefighter with his back to you really catch my eye!

on your part Mira. Including the going back. Those two men might be getting used to comments on a fire that big but also a bit tired of answering the same questions. It does not take much fuel to allow a fire to get out of control like that. Seeing the melted vinyl brought back old memories of the fire that burned down the neighbor's house behind us. Took one to the ground in less than an hour and melted the siding off the houses on each side. Luckily the whole family made it out fine and so did their dog. That is a 3 am wake up I never need again and I was only a bystander.

I just love the 4th one, of the two firefighters in a sea of smoke.

from when our house burned down in 2007.

It's hard for me to look at photos like this.

We had 59 firefighters from three counties here battling our fire. The house had wood siding. It had been a hot, dry summer and
the leaves were already starting to fall in late August. Fortunately, there was no wind at 4:30 in the morning, or our entire
hillside--with adjacent homes--might have gone up much the way hillside fires expand so quickly in California.

These are some great shots, Mira.

And it makes me feel insensitive, not a good feeling to have been the instrument to stir up horrible memories.
I went overboard and was gripped in the excitement of the moment plus I was told what was burning was a large shed. Later on someone said it was a house, and that got disputed, no ambulances, no needed rescues. For me it was a photo event of a spectacular fire being contained and I was proud of my moxie to get this close.
I am glad you have rebounded and there is no question in my mind that when it comes to fire you have scars that never go away, and something like my photographs made them itch badly and for that I am sad.

It must be deep in our DNA. I used to love watching/playing with fire in the fireplace. The really ironic thing
was that our dog at the time, Tanya, HATED fires. She'd get up and leave the room when we had a fire in
the fireplace. She was a rescue--found wandering--in Lincoln and we adopted her there from the animal shelter.
So, who knows? Had she escaped a fire? All our pets survived (the cats had been outside). Many pets are not so
lucky when fire strikes.

You may have heard of the fire that took out an entire building of apartments in Raleigh about 10 days ago. Near
Crabtree Valley Mall? One of the well known people in the Triangle Theatre community and his partner lost everything--
including their two kitties--because they had been in Asheville looking at wedding venues. They actually learned they'd
lost everything from a text or phone call. One older woman had to leave her dogs behind and jumped from a second story
window in order to get out. She was in intensive care for a day or two. I can't imagine the nightmares she'll probably have
for the rest of her life.

I've discovered, from mentioning it to people over the years, how common it is that people either have themselves, or know someone,
who lost everything in a fire. And it's really amazing how you hear the same thing being said, "it's just stuff". Except, that for some, it
isn't. It can be a lifetime of memories or even a beloved fur baby. And then there are people who don't make it out. It can be an inferno
in a matter of minutes.

Fire. Beautiful. Deadly. Mesmerizing. Monstrous. Endlessly fascinating.

Don't be sad. I watch programs about fire--even the TV program Chicago Fire!--to make myself face the experience rather than hide
from it. But when I see dramatic photos of the real thing--like the ones you took--or hear about someone else losing everything
in a fire, it takes me back in a way that is hard to describe. I think I have a form of PTSD. It's just the experience of life.

And made out of pallets? This is why we have building codes.