This past Saturday I headed out on a day-long back roads scouting trip on the west side of the Shenandoah National Park. We were near Browntown, Va and noticed a fire in the distance. As we drove closer it became obvious that the northwestern part of the Park was on fire, not a large fire but a significant one. We eventually made our way up a back road only to encounter the sheriff blocking access. My friend Dan rolled down the window and within a minute or two had talked the sheriff into letting us get a closer look.
While I was not happy to see the forest burn, I was hoping to get some dramatic shots. We got a little closer and ran into fire trucks. It appeared the firemen were still some distance from the fire. I’m guessing they did not have direct access to the area that was burning. We decided to turn back, we did not want to get in the way. As we started back down, the park service was bringing in a dozer. I suspect to try and create a road.
The photo above was taken later in the afternoon on the east side of the park. The smoke was drifting at least 10 miles to the east and could be seen much further away.
No comments:
Post a Comment