Photo: The people behind the lines of the Hayden Pass Fire
The official Hayden Pass Fire Twitter account posted this remarkable photo, by Rob Powell of Division Z, of the firefighters working to establish a perimeter on the Hayden Pass Fire near Coaldale, Colo.
When we in the media chase these “breaking stories”, we do so in terms of acres burned, crews, water drops and structures at threat.
But this image shows something more, the men and woman, on the frontlines called upon every summer in the West to control and put down these fires.
Whatever your politics on global warming, the consequences of the National Forest Service policy of total fire suppression, and adequate funding to fight forest fires — images like these are reminders of the hundreds, and at times thousands, of men and woman who protect the livelihoods and property of people they may never know.
It’s a powerful image and a reminder of those who work in that delicate unknown of disaster and beauty in the Western United States.
As of 9:13 AM MT on July 16, 2016, the Hayden Pass Fire burned 16,204 acres with 5-percent contained and 645 on-site to fight the blaze.
