Thursday, May 22, 2008

Fire on 108 Near Knight's Ferry

Earlier today, my wife and I were on our way to Modesto and we started seeing some smoke in the distance. As we neared Knight's Ferry, we saw that the fire was very near Highway 108. We passed the fire and then turned around to go back and get a better look. I had a Pentax K20D body with me along with the DA* 16-50/2.8, DA* 50-135/2.8, DA* 200/2.8, DA 14/2.8, and DA 35/2.8 Macro Limited lenses. I used the DA* 50-135/2.8 and DA* 200/2.8 lenses for these shots. The first two photos show the fire in several spots when we first passed it.

1/3200s @ f/2.8; ISO 200; SR On

1/640s @ f/8; ISO 200; SR On

After we turned around, we pulled over to the side and I took this shot. As you can see CDF had a helicopter there to fight the fire.

1/1000s @ f/8; ISO 200; SR On

Very quickly the fire started getting worse and these few cars were among the last to get through. The smoke got very think and it was really impossible to see through it very well. I think it was at this point that the fire crossed the road.

1/800s @ f/8; ISO 200; SR On

After the fire crossed the road, it died down some and some water from the helicopter helped.

1/1250s @ f/8; ISO 200; SR On

The helicopter repeatedly picked up water and dropped it. The helicopter is on its way to get more water in the picture below.

1/1000s @ f/8; ISO 200; SR On

There was a CDF bomber that dropped fire retardant several times but it really did not see much use other than circling for a long time.

1/500s @ f/10; ISO 200; SR On

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