Here We Go!

This is the Sand Fire in Amador County near Plymouth, CA, in the Cosumnes River Canyon area shortly after it started this past afternoon. It got much more dramatic-looking than this not much later as it became a rolling crown fire sheeting through entire stands of pine trees. It consumed multiple structures and tonight has charred 1,300 acres and is only 20% contained. I have a distinct feeling this is going to become a major and perhaps even historic fire, but I'd like to be wrong about that although this thing certainly had "that look" today. We have late summer fuel conditions but at a time when the sun is higher in the sky and overhead longer than when the fuel conditions we are seeing typically occur in the year. This translated to exceptionally aggressive fire behavior even at the initial attack stage.
Photo courtesy of KCRA-TV Sacramento.