Topic: Butte Fire

[Bryan]

The Butte fire burned a total of 70,868 acres, mostly in Clalaveras county, CA.  Calaveras county is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills just East of Stockton, CA.  On September 10, 2015 FEMA made a Fire Management Assistance Declaration for the Butte Fire.  The same declaration was made for the Rocky fire in Lake County, CA.  The company I work for is an Emergency Response contractor for the EPA.  As part of the FEMA response the EPA tasked us to remove Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) from the fire damaged residences for both fires.  I was sent to manage the cleanup of the Butte Fire where around 800 residences were damaged.  On October 6th I packed a my bags, including cameras and film and headed to Calaveras County. 

The first two weeks I was there I used my Leica III with a 50mm f/3.5 Leitz Elmar lens.  I shot a roll of Ilford Delta 100 and a roll of Kodak TMX 100.  The second two weeks I used my Zenit B with an Asahi Pentax Super-Takumar 28mm f/3.5 lens and shot one roll of Ilford Delta 100.  These were all developed in Caffenol C-H (rs). 

The thing that struck me most about this fire was how intense the heat must have been and the vast amount of damage it caused across the landscape.  These first pictures will give you a sense of that.

Butte Fire Jesus Maria Rd by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Scorched Pine by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Scorced Earth by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Fence Post by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Bryan]

Many people I talked to said they had very little time to escape the fire, they had to leave many personal items behind.  One person I talked to said he only had time to grab the family photos and his dog.  Others had no warning other than a view of the fast approaching wild fire.  As we were sifting through the debris of these homes for HHW we could see where the homeowners had been searching for personal treasures.  Very little survived the intense heat, maybe some ceramic items.  Coin collections were melted into a mass of metal, glass and ceramics were melted and twisted.  Almost every fire damaged structure we came to, whether it had a metal roof, metal siding, cinder block walls, most of what we found was burned to the ground.  Many times it was just a metal roof on top of a concrete foundation.  This is a very rural area, many people have out buildings in addition to their houses.  Many of these were used as work sops for contractors and such.  That is where we found most of the HHW in the form of burned lead acid batteries, welding gas cylinders, drums of oil (if it didn't burn off), cans of paint (most was cooked dry).  After we completed our part of the cleanup other crews would come in to remove debris and clean the ash from the soil.  Other crews were working to restore power and phone lines, remove dangerous trees, install erosion controll, etc.  the following photos show some of the personal items that were left behind. 

Butte Fire Bicycle by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire High Chairs by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Doll Head by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Ceramic Figurines by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Bryan]

Many vehicles were completely destroyed.  Often we would see a puddle of melted aluminum streaming out from under them.  Glass was often melted onto the dash boards. 

Butte Fire VW by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Horse Trailer by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Butte Fire Vintage Pickup Truck by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Bryan]

This is typically what we found.

Butte Fire Wood Stove by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

Very well equipped shop completely destroyed.
Bute Fire Shop Building by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

An example of the stuff we were looking for.
Butte Fire Welding Gas by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

[Late Developer]

Powerful set, Bryan.  It conveys the sense of urgency required to get out of the way of the fire extremely well.

[jharr]

As a So. Cal. resident, these images are becoming disturbingly familiar. You captured the essence of the destruction of both property and nature. one question: How do you deal with an intact gas cylinder? It seems like it would be dangerous to move.

[02Pilot]

Interesting series. I especially like the first three landscape shots, the pickup truck, and the horse trailer. Fun fact about air-cooled VWs like that Bug: the engine blocks are magnesium and burn at something like 1400degF. Spraying water on them when they're burning just makes them angry.

How do you like Delta 100 in Caffenol? I've used it for a lot of films, but I've never tried the Delta range. How do the results compare with TMax 100 in this developer?

[Bryan]

As a So. Cal. resident, these images are becoming disturbingly familiar. You captured the essence of the destruction of both property and nature. one question: How do you deal with an intact gas cylinder? It seems like it would be dangerous to move.

The gas cylinders are dangerous, especially if they have been compromised by the heat.  We had a cylinder specialist on our crew so that helped a lot.  Most of the cylinders that we encountered were propane, oxygen and acetylene and most of them were empty.  If they didn't blow up or blow the valve off in the fire then they released their contents through the pressure relief valve.  We did encounter some that had damaged valves but we were able to asses them and confirm that they were empty. 

Interesting series. I especially like the first three landscape shots, the pickup truck, and the horse trailer. Fun fact about air-cooled VWs like that Bug: the engine blocks are magnesium and burn at something like 1400degF. Spraying water on them when they're burning just makes them angry.

How do you like Delta 100 in Caffenol? I've used it for a lot of films, but I've never tried the Delta range. How do the results compare with TMax 100 in this developer?

I seem to remember that there was no engine in that VW but if it burned I suspect there would have been a lot more damage to the car. 

The more I use Delta 100 the more I like it.  I developed a roll of TMX 100 and Delta 100 in the same batch and found that the TMX negatives were thinner and needed more work fixing blemishes.

[Terry]

Stunning photos Bryan.  I like the way you move from landscape to detail, and I especially like the doll's head shot.  Really evocative.

[Bryan]

Stunning photos Bryan.  I like the way you move from landscape to detail, and I especially like the doll's head shot.  Really evocative.

Thanks Terry.