August: Forest fire turns a western sky an orange hue

Kade Bouwman always keeps his camera nearby when he operates earthmoving equipment around Denmark, near Albany, in southwest Western Australia. His enthusiasm paid off in April 2004 when he watched helicopters drop a ring of fire bombs into forest near Mt Lindsay for a fuel reduction burn. “Soon there was a circle of fire — and whoof, suddenly the updraught drew flames into the middle, and up she went, spectacularly but briefly. Thirty minutes later, everything was quiet.”

In preparation for upcoming bushfire seasons, state and local government departments carry out controlled burns to reduce the fuel load in bushfire prone areas. They use the Bureau’s fire danger indices — based on the four weather related factors (temperature, humidity, wind, and a drought index) — to manage these burns. Smoke plumes from intense bushfires rise through the atmosphere where they are blown and dispersed by winds which may vary in direction and strength at differing altitudes, The direction in which the smoke is blowing is not always the same as the direction in which the fire is moving (this same variation in wind direction at differing heights is used by hot air balloonists to navigate from place to place).

Note: The photograph in the printed calendar is NOT watermarked with a copyright symbol and name.

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