Picture of the Day - L.A. Red In The Morning...

This spectacular image captured from the Hollywood Hills by an unidentified (to me) photographer. The view is eastward and features the famed Griffith Observatory at left. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Pictures (all rights reserved).

Picture of the Day - One More Grad Pic

Friend and classmate and fellow history major Blake Burgess and I posing in the parking lot following walking at the Cuesta College 2013 Commencement Ceremony last Friday evening. Photo by Krystal Marie Sprague (all rights reserved).

Token White Incident Image

This image of the White Incident in Santa Barbara County was taken late this afternoon/early this evening by ValleyFireScan and posted by him on Twitter (all rights reserved).

April 2013 "Find of the Month"

April 2013 "Find of the Month" winning submission: wulfenite from Arizona.

This month's "Find of the Month" winner

Both photos by Susie Christian (all rights reserved).

Mount Shasta Stormy Sunset

Earlier this evening my friend David Richter captured the following stunning images of the ongoing Pacific Storm making its way over the Mount Shasta area. These images are shown in the order they were taken and have not been altered in any way and were taken from just north of Weed, CA.

All photos by David Richter (all rights reserved)

Flagstaff Fire Rotary-Winged Assault

California Disasters member and Colorado sheriff deputy James Nelson has another series of photographs to share here. This time we see an Erickson Air Crane (Helitanker 741) and a Kaman K-MAX, respectively, at work on the Flagstaff Incident in Boulder County, Colorado the previous day. The aircraft are dipping into Kossler Reservoir.

All photos by James Nelson (all rights reserved).

High Park Fire Pyrocumulus Cloud

California Disasters member and Colorado sheriff deputy James Nelson took these two images today of the aerial firefighting efforts based at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport against the ongoing monster of a forest fire known as the High Park Incident, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado's history. Today, the fire made a run into the Glacier View Meadows subdivision in the Fort Collins, CO, area. Some initial reports indicate as many as 30-50 more homes were destroyed to go along with the nearly 200 homes that have already been confirmed destroyed as well as the one reported fatality to go along with 81,191 acres with only 45%  containment. As noted in the title, today the fire generated some rather spectacular pyrocumulus clouds.

Tanker #144 on final to Rwy 11L with the Flatirons in the background.

Tanker #45 about to land with the smoke from the High Park Fire billowing above it.

Both photos and their captions by James Nelson.

Air Tankers Of The High Park Fire

California Disasters member and Colorado sheriff deputy James Nelson has just sent me another parcel of interesting photographs showing wildfire activity in his area of Colorado and the resulting firefighting activity. The following images are shown in the order they were given to me and show aerial firefighting assets in action employed against both the High Park Incident as well as the Springer Incident. The scenes pictured below show the action at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, CO. The High Park Fire as of this posting has killed one woman and destroyed 191 homes (thus making it the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history) while also charring 69,543 acres with only 45% containment. Today the fire spotted across a canyon and made a run on several subdivisions. Given ongoing weather conditions, to wit, red flag warnings and such, plus the fact this fire is now established in some bug killed forest zones it seems probable this is far from over.

Tanker #142 lifting off from Rwy 29R at the Rocky Mountain Regional Airport in Broomfield, CO, last Sunday The building in the background is the USFS Slurry Bomber Base, expanded 3 years ago.

Tanker #883, a SEAT, lifts off from Rwy 11L the second day of the fire.

Tanker #44 departs Rwy 11L on June 17, 2012, after a week of the High Park fire burning.

In the next two images Tanker #142 and #48 depart Rwy 29R last Sunday, June 17, 2012. They both turned south and headed to the new Springer Fire located about 60 miles to the southwest of Denver. The fire in the background is the High Park Fire, burning 40 miles to the northwest.

All photos and captions by James Nelson (all rights reserved).

Fourmile Canyon Fire in Photographs

Last year a member of Californiadisasters named James Nelson who lives in Colorado sent me a series of fascinating photos over several days time of the disastrous Fourmile Canyon Fire as it occurred. I have his permission to share them with you here albeit belatedly as the one-year anniversary of the start of this disastrous fire is less than a month away.

This fire burned 6,181 acres as opposed to the largest fire in that state's history, the 2002 Hayman Fire which burned over 138,000 acres. However, the Fourmile Canyon Fire destroyed 169 homes versus the Hayman Fire's 133 homes destroyed.

The airport pictured here is the tanker base at Rocky Mountain Metro AP in Broomfield, CO. Tanker 21 and Tanker 25 are P-3 Orions while Tanker 45 and Tanker 48 are P-2V Neptunes. The helitankers are S-64 Sikorsky Aircranes manufactured by Erickson Air-Crane thus making them officially Erickson Air-Cranes. The Type-2 helicopter is a Bell 205 "Huey".

All photos are posted in the order they were sent to me.

 Tanker 25

 Tanker 25

 Tanker 25 with Denver, CO, in the background

 Tanker 25 with media and gawkers

 Tanker 25

 Overhead heading back to the incident command post

 Incident Command Post (ICP)

 Manitou Springs water tender refilling at ICP

 Road block into the evacuated zone

 Helitanker 733

 Helitanker 719

 Unknown helicopter unit with bucket

 Fourmile Fire burn area

 Fourmile Fire burn area

 Fourmile Fire burn area

 Tanker 21 and Tanker 25

 Tanker 21

 Tanker 48

Tanker 45

Fini

All photos by James Nelson (all rights reserved)

Stonyford Rockhounding Finds - Part 2

Our friends Ben & Eileen Halpin of Chico sent me some more photos of their recently discovered Nephrite boulders from a friend's ranch in the Stonyford, CA, area which we are sharing with you below. We invite you to check out Part One of this series.

These photos were taken by Ben Halpin who retains the rights.
Please ask his permission if you wish to use them.
He can be easily reached at Halpin's Rocks.

Stonyford Rockhounding Finds - Part 1

My friend Ben and Eileen Halpin of Chico recently rockhounded at a friend's ranch in the Stonyford, CA, area and found some suspected Nephrite Jade boulders as well as a nice big boulder of Robyn's Poppy Jasper which can be purchased at their website Halpinsrocks.com. I invite you to check out Part Two of this series which contains more detailed images.

Twin boulders of suspected Nephrite Jade.

Suspected Nephrite Jade Boulder

Robyn's Poppy Jasper

Robyn's Poppy Jasper

Robyn's Poppy Jasper

Ben reminds me that he has more of these materials available as well as more nice Brecciated Jasper.

By the way, the individual in the photos above is not Ben but the owner of the property upon which the material was found.

These photos were taken by Ben Halpin who retains the rights. Please ask his permission if you wish to use them. He can be easily reached at Halpin's Rocks.