Wild Fire gallery
Aftermath of the Water Wheel Fire September 6, 2009
What does one say about a fire that creeps too close to where you live, was probably caused by a careless use of fire and decimates the land for a generation? The people of Whispering Pines, Beaver Valley, and to a lesser extent, Mesa del and Geronimo Estates, will constantly be reminded of what happens to an area that everyone enjoyed but some abused. It's a scar on the mind as well as the landscape and will heal slowly, if at all, for some who live in these communities year around. When will we as a species, ever learn to care for our land, our home, our earth?
A curve on Houston Mesa Road on the way to Whispering Pines is no longer safe for travel and waits for replacement posts and rails. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
A patch of green oasis on the East Verde stands out in contrast to the devastation around it. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
An area ripe for erosion stands witness to the damage. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Silent sentinels in time will fall and slide down the side of Diamond Rim and be reclaimed by the earth that grew them. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Terry Bruner waited patiently with his dogs to return to his home in Whispering Pines. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
A large, lone, stump still burned in the middle of a dust, and ash filled area of the Water Wheel Fire. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
A scar on the land for at least a generation. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Michelle Ellenburg and her daughter Morgan waited for the all clear signal from DPS as they sat in their car in a long line of cars filled with Whispering Pines residents anxious to return home. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
A lone APS worker works on a downed pole to remove the wire and mark it for obvious replacement. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Contrast and weird is normal viewing after an extremely hot burn moves through an unmanaged area of forest. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
The black of Diamond Rim will turn to grey and then brown and back to green over a long measure of time. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Julie Balzano unhooked the gate where she found Flicka and Cutie Pie after she and her mom Maurita Strait were allowed to return to Whispering Pines. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Lost no more, this wire rimmed hubcap will find its way to a junk pile or slowly return to the ground never to be seen again. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
One bright spot in this fire is the fact that once it raced up Diamond Rim, it had no place to go, but out. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Nade Galligan, of the Daisy Mountain Fire Crew, adjusted the flow of water at the pump while a fire crew waited. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
An ariel view of the Water Wheel fire near the start of the blaze. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Eating fresh hay, Cutie Pie takes a quick look at this lens. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
What was once hidden by overgrowth is now visible and will remain so for a generation. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Burned through and through these witnesses of the Water Wheel Fire will forever tell of their pain and sorrow. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
A contrast of damaged and spared areas of the Water Wheel Fire as seen from the air. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
Sandy Johnson payed for her T-shirts of the Water Wheel Fire, left, as Dan Newman waited his turn to purchase a few memories from Georgia Ann Franklin-Owens, of Morning Star Screen Printing. To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
The End. For now... To Buy This Image, contact: atowle@payson.com
