Topic: Almeda Fire

[Bryan]

The Almeda fire was one of many that were raging in Oregon in September this year.  It started on September 8, 2020 in the North end of Ashland, Oregon near Almeda Road.  Driven by 40 mph winds it raced up a corridor along Bear Creek between Interstate 5 and Highway 99. It destroyed much of the cities of Talent and Phoenix killing 3 people.  Over 2,800 structures were destroyed, mostly residential but also many businesses.  It's always overwhelming when you see the amount of destruction and personal loss caused by these fires.  It's difficult to show the extent of devastation from the ground with a camera.  There's not much left to photograph except what wasn't completely destroyed by the fire.  Sometimes it's parts of structures that didn't burn, remains of things that can withstand a few thousand degrees F, or personal items that someone dug from the ashes. 

Remains of a business in Phoenix, Oregon. 
Burned Landscape of Phoenix by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Remains of a few tanker trucks in Phoenix.
Burned Tanker Trucks by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Tool box that someone pulled from a destroyed building.
Burned Tool Box by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Burned Mercedes.
Burned Mercedes by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Bryan]

Smudge Pot at a burned orchard.  Talking to someone that worked at this orchard he didn't even know this stuff was there.  This area was overgrown with blackberry bushes and other vegetation.  You can see the change in color on the rectangular tank in the background, that's because of the diesel fuel and water that was still in the tank.  Often oils and fuels burn off but, not sure why this tank didn't.  The diesel fuel was used to fuel the smudge pots that were placed in the orchard to prevent frost damage.
Burned Smudge Pot by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Big burned tree.
Big Burned Tree by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Toy truck.  I think someone pulled it from the debris and set it in the window sill.
Burned Toy Truck by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Brick and wrought iron entry still standing.
Entry Standing by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Burned sign for the Phoenix Hotel, hopefully the hotel and the rest of the town can rise from the ashes.
Phoenix Motel Burned Sign by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Bryan]

All the photos were shot with a Leica IIf using either an Elmar 5cm lens or a Summaron 3.5cm lens.  I used a NOOKY closeup attachment for the toy truck photo.  The film is Kodak Panatomic-X expired 3/1963 and developed in beer.

[Indofunk]

These are beautiful, if tragic, photos. I especially like the toy truck closeup

[LEAFotography]

These are wonderful! But as others have said, also really sad...homes, livelihoods, and neighbourhoods lost...makes me wonder how I still experience the images as great, so maybe I mean that the images are poignant!

[rotarysmp]

Devastating. You cant even begin to imagine the scar that leaves on all the lives it touches. Thanks for recording it.
Mark

[Bryan]

I thought we were done with the Oregon fires in December but we were called back to take care of a few more properties.  I took my new Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta 532/16 loaded with CatLabs X Film 80, developed in Beer.  Despite what you see in my photos a lot of the properties are getting cleared and there is a lot of new construction going on.  I've never returned to a fire 6 months later but I found it amazing how fast homes are being built.  A lot of vegetation is coming back as well.  The properties that haven't been cleared yet , like the ones in my photos, look very similar to how they looked right after the fire except for some grass, weeds and flowers starting to pop up. 

Burnt Motorcycle by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Burnt Bambi and Elf by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Burnt Wrought Iron Gate by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Burnt Table Saw by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr