Butch Rainwater pondering the Holcomb Valley wildfire, while the lower plume appears to be, "eye to eye" looking back at Butch.
Location: Big Bear California (USA)
June 2017
Medium: IPad
Editing: Black and White Filter
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. It has been rumored that it was possibly an out of control campfire that started the fire but that has not officially been confirmed. Over 1200 fire fighters tirelessly worked day and night fighting this fire, which began June 19th, has claimed over 1500 acres and while it is now 100% contained, it is still being monitored for hot spots.
The fire was named the Holcomb Fire due to it's presence in the Holcomb Valley, which is in the Big Bear Valley, in The San Bernardino Mountains (California). The fire was visible from Hwy 18 in the Cactus Flats area, as well as as the communities dump transfer station and Ecological Reserve.
The photo was taken in Big Bear City and the mountain you are looking at is Gold Mountain. At one point during the fire, evacuations were ordered for 1st, 2nd and 3rd st in Baldwin and I was on 7th St. helping friends pack their home and load the vehicle (so to be ready to evacuate in a moments notice.
While we could see flames from the back yard, thankfully, the fire never jumped the road, the evacuation was lifted and not a single home was damaged. The Big Bear/Holcomb Valley Fire Fighters are a truly amazing team of courageous men and women.