Monster Forest Fires in Montana

In Montana so far this year, more than 1,500 fires have burned a total of 937 square miles.  Forrest fires are hard to get control of, they get started easily by lightning and man made accidents and are usually in very difficult terrain. 

I lensed these images while flying back from shooting the eclipse over the Grand Tetons. I had to fly around and above 3 different major fires because these were under what is called a "TFR" or Temporary Flight Restriction. This keeps air traffic above and well away from the airborne firefighting activities and at a safe distance. 

As you can imagine the smoke was pretty thick as I had to fly up behind these, in other words - downwind. This meant I flew for almost 2 hours before I got to the actual fires and it was pretty acrid to smell, breathe and taste! 

Once I got on the side of the first one off to my left (First image up top) the air started clearing up. Look at how far those fires are spread out, remember I am a good distance from them so those are miles apart, and they spring up rapidly! Think of those firefighters on the ground in these deep forest and mountainous conditions, lugging a huge pack full of supplies and implements! Those folks are heros!!

Then I flew another few miles and came up to the 2nd fire off on my right side. This next image is it that fire as seen from the side as I came up on it;

This fire would be even more difficult because look at the steep terrain it is spread out over. On the right side down in that ravine and up the side of that mountain you can see that it has already burnt that entire mountain. 

This next picture is of the same fire but from the front of the fire line: 

Here you can clearly see the fire has consumed one mountain and has cross the ridge and is now burning down the hill of this mountain as well. This is a petty wide fire line and as I flew over it I could see trees below literally exploding into towers of fire. 

I also could see the air operations working this fire, it was amazing to see the lead planes guide in the tankers to  the big hot spots while the helicopters worked individually on numerous smaller spots all over the front line. Those folks are also heros!!

You can also see how the fire is going all the way around the mountain, this is one huge fire and is still going on almost 2 weeks later.

This last image was taken at dusk as I passed it off to my right side;

Again this is a very remote and hard to get to fire deep in the in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Look at the smoke cloud  growing huge as it builds up and is blown downwind, creating difficult conditions for all those, humans and animals, in its path.

These images are from my ongoing project in which I am trying to raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness.

Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing locations that surround us.

If you like what you see here upvote then resteemit so that others may experience these wondrous places as well.

Yehaw!!