Rodeo Fire photos

[Fritzski]

I’ve had the opportunity to fly over the Rodeo fire numerous times over the past few days and was able to get some pretty impressive photos thanks to my First Officer who always carries his digital camera. I’ll send them to Joe and maybe he can post them for all to view. They were taken from about 27,000 feet on Wed. the 19th when the fire was little more than a day old. The area was still fairly concentrated just to the west of Show Low. The surrounding visibility was still excellent providing for clear shots of the fire.

By Friday the thick smoke had completely blanketed the entire area from Four Peaks all the way up to Sunrise Ski area. Payson, Pine Top, and Show Low were completely obscured. The eastern edge of the activity seemed to be getting very close to Show Low.

The most spectacular fire I’ve seen has been the recent Hayman fire in Colorado. It looked like the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb. As we went by at 37,000’, another aircraft at 41,000’ reported the top of the smoke plume at an estimated 45,000’. The amount of heat energy required to boost hot air to that altitude is staggering.

Other than that, one of the most awesome sights I’ve encountered was back in the early nineties when I flew directly over Four Peaks fire at night. In daylight the flames are hard to see, but at night you can distinctly see every burning ember and glowing ash. It was truly like flying straight over the depths of Hell.

[Nighthiker]

As a firefighter for a little more than twenty years, I know first hand that fire is a destroyer. This fire, the Rodeo-Chediski, is a predator.