Wildfires Rip Through Southern US

Multi alarm fire at apartment complex. Raleigh Fire Dept station 17 on seen. Supported by stations 11,8 and 24. No apparent injuries.

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Photo taken at the last overlook before the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed to traffic. This was Sunday morning, after the forest had been burning at least 24hrs. I first saw the smoke the day before, from the top of nearby Sharp Top mountain, though I had taken it for fog at the time.

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This was taken while I was stuck in traffic on interstate 81. Unbeknownst to the motorists - the interstate had actually been shut-down due to the wildfires. As soon as I saw this massive cloud of smoke in the distance, I knew something wasn't right.

We were rerouted through Hollins, and traffic was delayed for HOURS. The smoke was so thick that it was actually hard to see and breathe. Really scary stuff!

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I was driving home from work on February 2, 2008 at about 6:15 pm, and saw a small fire building up on the porch of a third-floor corner apartment. The fire started on the back side of the building shown in the photographs. Just as I was passing by, a fire engine arrived on the scene. Knowing the fire department was on-scene, I rushed to my apartment (which is in the same development, but about a minute's walk from the fire). I grabbed my camera and tripod and raced to get back to the fire. By the time I was within view of the fire, it had already consumed the apartment from which it started, and was eating away at the roof of the units on the front side. By then, several more fire trucks had arrived as well as the police. I saw firemen entering neighboring units to ensure complete evacuation while others battled to keep the fire from spreading any further. I looked around and through the dense haze of smoke and blinding flashes of red and white strobes, I could see that there was a rather large crowd growing. I moved about, trying to find better vantage points to photograph the awe-inspiring event that was unfolding before me. I had never been so close to an inferno like that before and I couldn't help but think "that could have just as easily been my building" and "I hope to God that no one was hurt". When the blaze had reached it's peak, a huge whole had opened up in the roof, spanning across 3 units and the chimney of the front, corner unit had collapsed into the roof. Fire was billowing out from under a peak just above a sliding door. I noticed a blue bike on the porch just below the erupting flames and I thought to myself, at least these people will be alive to replace it. Soon, police began posting yellow tape from tree to tree while pushing spectators farther and farther away from the scene. Soon we were so far back, that I could barely see anything through the trees. By then the fire was out and the crowd began to dissipate. I myself returned home to review my first fire photos. My heart goes out to the displaced families and I am grateful that this did not occur several hours later, where families would be asleep and the outcome could have been grim. Word has it that the fire started from an unextinguished cigarette left in a flower pot. I hope this is a lesson to teach people the value of being more careful in the future.

NateLFO has contributed a photo to this story.