It has been four busy years since we created our online Public Safety publication that has grown more and more by the day, weeks and into the years.  We Thank every single one of you for joining us on our journeys going Fire Chasing to visiting facilities quietly snapping you all in action.  We are still on fire for “Everything Fire, EMS, 1st responders and Law Enforcement”.  It’s just how we roll here in the Northwest.

Copy of Smoke on the Horizon
We cannot get away from this image as we lay witness to the fierce fire taking over  brush  and fields ,within seconds. and working to destroy a lifetime of hard work and dedication.  #RimrockFire [in the Douglas County Complex Fire]
A lot has happened in 2015.  Here’s a recap:

FIRESTORMS

Fire Season came early and it seemed like all of Washington State at one point or another was ablaze and we heard your stories of responding via locally, State, Federal, City, County and across the Globe as mutual aid.

mudlake11
A Coulson AirTanker sits at the Moses Lake, Washington Tanker Base. Photo was taken Summer of 2015. Photo Credit: LR Swenson.
  • State of Alaska had many fires burning across thousands of acres and even scorching part of Canadian territories.
  • Eastern Washington was like a firestorm and that’s an understatement. Beloved Lake Chelan and other hot travel destinations saw their revenue burning up.  Many homes were lost, as were businesses and communities wiped out.
  • California saw alot and is still reeling from the drought that has brought many fires including arsons, all across their State bringing heartache, hundreds of evacuations, unbelieveable Fire Images taken by some increadible talented Photographers.

We know we are forgetting some States and fire incidents.  We are just highlighting a few in between.  The Fire Season was so busy, we were literally running from call to call and trying to keep up.  We knew that was out of the question.

In the end, we were able to catch our breath and tweet, writing and post a few stories and major events in between.

FIRE CHASING

We had several opportunities to put our Fire Photography skills to the test by capturing several fires, fire suppression tools at work and the personnel on the ground working tirelessly as they jump from one fire to the next.

We were on scene at the Highway 28 Fire, Rimrock Fire, I-90 Fire and several others.

I90 fire
I-90 Fire near Vantage, Washington gives us a front row view of DNR’s Rotor 9 being used as one of many fire suppression helos. Credit: LR Swenson.

STATION VISITS

While you all were very busy preparing to be deployed as strike teams to area fires, we were quietly photographing your fire suppression tools, stations and some of you flying those great flying machines during incidents.  Next time, we hope to hang with you in person and say, ‘hello’ as we are passing through.

FUTURE PROJECTS

We will be announcing a new Feature on our Blog.  Our 2015 Firestorm Book project has been postponed and we hope to later revisit in the near future.

More details about our newest project will be given in the next few posts.  Make sure to follow us for more detailed postings.

SOCIAL MEDIA

You can catch us on our Social Media platforms, like Twitter @nwfireblog and on Facebook. We love to have you hang with us and partner with us on our journeys together.

Fire Apparatus, Tender 65
Fire Crws on the Rimrock Fire, part of the Douglas Complex Fire. [Credit: LR Swenson]
We know the Fire Season is just around the corner and yes, we just jinxed it by saying it out loud but we hope to be in the flesh on more Fire Chasing calls bringing more Fire Images and stories.

THANK YOU

We appreciate you following us and reading our stories, career opportunities and engaging with us by providing feedback, ideas, stories and helping us become a Success!  We are not just seen and read in the Northwest, but Globally and any Country you can think of – we’ve probably left a footprint.

~ LR Swenson, Writer/Blogger

(c) 2016 The #NWFireBlog