A firefighter is dwarfed by an ancient Ponderosa Pine tree he has been entrusted to protect from a raging forest fire. Between heavy logging practices, aggressive fire suppression strategies, and the impacts of a warming climate, old-growth trees like this one have become increasingly rare in our western forests.
Flames are reflected in the window of the Foreman’s Cabin in the Historic District of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM. Firefighters executed a night burnout operation to protect the old-growth trees and historic structures from the Thompson Ridge Fire.
As the night burnout operation on the Thompson Ridge Fire nears completion, the sky begins to lighten with the first signs of the coming day.
