02/09/2013 - 12:58
Firestorm: A photographer's journey
Every summer in Spain, tens of thousands of forest hectares go up in smoke. Every Spaniard living in the countryside has at some point come face to face with this calamity. I myself am from a village in Galicia and I have known the flames from early childhood. Time and time again I saw my parents and my uncles head for the woods because there was a blaze and extra hands were needed to put out the fire.
I have been a photojournalist for 20 years, working mostly on social and environmental topics. I am the only reporter in Spain specialising in forest fires. I was 11 when I took my first fire pictures.
The high-risk season in Spain runs from April to October. The rest of the year I spend preparing. I read books on how fire travels and on the best safety procedures. I attend conferences on forestry topics. I get health checks. I keep fit so I can be embedded with firefighters, anywhere in Spain. I want only one thing: To go into the heart of any fire. Where no other journalist can go.
My friends jokingly say I’m like those American storm chasers. They’re probably right. I guess I’m a forest fire chaser. When the season comes, I prepare methodically. I have access to very detailed maps and forecasts that are not available to the general public. I try to predict where and when a forest fire is most likely to break out. Sometimes people ask me how on earth I manage to be at a fire location just before it breaks out, as if they were wondering whether I set the fire myself, and get great pictures. The truth is, once you understand how fire works, it’s not that hard to predict the location and timing of the next one.
On the weekend of August 24 and 25 a fire destroyed more than 1,000 hectares of forest near Ourense in Galicia, not far from my home village. I was already there when it started. How did I manage?
Fire experts have a formula they call “The 30-30-30 Rule”. It says that the risk of a forest fire is at its maximum when it’s hotter than 30 Celsius, air humidity is below 30 percent and wind speed over 30 kilometres per hour. And that’s precisely what the weather forecast predicted for Galicia that weekend.
What’s more, the glorious weather meant that thousands of people would be out walking in the forest. Some would do something stupid, like smoke a cigarette in the wrong place. Most people are still not fully aware of fire risks. I should also mention that arsonists usually know exactly when is the best time to set a fire.
In sum, that weekend all risk factors were united to turn Galicia into a powder keg. That’s why I went. And it all came true.
When I head off to a fire, I wear exactly the same protective gear as the firefighters, except my outfit is free of any logos. Over the years, I’ve developed a strong relationship with the firemen. We’re on the same side, and I often help them out, for example by taking them in my car from one spot to another.
When they’re fighting a fire they’re entirely covered in their protective outfit which means I can’t see their faces. They, on the other hand, know me instantly because I’m the only one carrying cameras. I often hear “Hey, Pedro’s here” from underneath helmets, but I don’t have a clue who’s talking to me. Sometimes firemen I’ve never met before walk up to me to shake my hand, because they’ve heard about my photo work.
Of course it’s dangerous work. For starters, I have to cope with the same problems as everybody else: Blocked roads, hazardous access, etc. Once I’m in the fire, constant analysis of the situation is crucial. Where is the fire coming from? Where do I need to go? Everything is a function of the wind, the terrain, and the type of vegetation that’s burning.
And then you have to face the heat. Constant. Suffocating. But in fact that’s not the biggest danger. The worst is the smoke. It can be highly toxic, depending on what substances are burning up. The smoke can be very disorientating, too. A gust of wind, and suddenly you can no longer see the person who was just a metre away. And you can’t see where to run if you have to get out. And your face must be covered at all times. If it isn’t, a blast of 70 degrees Celsius hot air may enter into your mouth and throat and burn you up from the inside.
Whenever I’m in the middle of a forest fire it feels like the fire is a wild animal fleeing from a predator. It runs in one direction, then suddenly in another. It feigns movements to avoid the claws of the firefighters.
The men in this picture belong to the BRIF, the auxiliary forest firefighter brigade. They are Spain’s shock troops in the fight against fire. Elite firemen who move swiftly, by helicopter, anywhere they have to. They deal with the most complicated situations, they are highly-trained in all fire extinction techniques.
If there’s a major blaze, the men will often fight it for 10 or 12 hours without stopping. One of the problems I face is when to stop shooting pictures and send them to my editors. I know that even the best pictures in the world are useless if I can’t get them out on time. I carry my laptop in my car, and I often send my pictures while the world around me is blazing.
One of the lesser-known methods of fire fighting is the use of heavy machinery. Bulldozers open a gap in the fire, and then firemen position themselves on either side of the opening trying to prevent the flames from spreading across. It doesn’t always work. In the picture above, a sudden gust of wind has propelled thousands of sparks into the sky, right over the gap.
The worst fires, of course, are the ones near inhabited areas. I took the picture above in Sandin. This woman, like most of her neighbours, covered herself as best she could and went off to extinguish the flames near her home. In moments like this, people easily panic. Drivers go at breakneck speed to get family members out of danger, or because someone suddenly remembers that there’s a horse that must be saved in a field near a raging blaze. Ironically, the chaotic reaction to fire often turns out to be more dangerous than the fire itself.
copiado http://www.afp.com/
Firestorm: A photographer's journey
Forest fire in Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
By Pedro Armestre
Every summer in Spain, tens of thousands of forest hectares go up in smoke. Every Spaniard living in the countryside has at some point come face to face with this calamity. I myself am from a village in Galicia and I have known the flames from early childhood. Time and time again I saw my parents and my uncles head for the woods because there was a blaze and extra hands were needed to put out the fire.
I have been a photojournalist for 20 years, working mostly on social and environmental topics. I am the only reporter in Spain specialising in forest fires. I was 11 when I took my first fire pictures.
The high-risk season in Spain runs from April to October. The rest of the year I spend preparing. I read books on how fire travels and on the best safety procedures. I attend conferences on forestry topics. I get health checks. I keep fit so I can be embedded with firefighters, anywhere in Spain. I want only one thing: To go into the heart of any fire. Where no other journalist can go.
Two men stand by the edge of a forest fire in Cualedro, Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
My friends jokingly say I’m like those American storm chasers. They’re probably right. I guess I’m a forest fire chaser. When the season comes, I prepare methodically. I have access to very detailed maps and forecasts that are not available to the general public. I try to predict where and when a forest fire is most likely to break out. Sometimes people ask me how on earth I manage to be at a fire location just before it breaks out, as if they were wondering whether I set the fire myself, and get great pictures. The truth is, once you understand how fire works, it’s not that hard to predict the location and timing of the next one.
On the weekend of August 24 and 25 a fire destroyed more than 1,000 hectares of forest near Ourense in Galicia, not far from my home village. I was already there when it started. How did I manage?
Near a forest fire in Cualedro, Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
Fire experts have a formula they call “The 30-30-30 Rule”. It says that the risk of a forest fire is at its maximum when it’s hotter than 30 Celsius, air humidity is below 30 percent and wind speed over 30 kilometres per hour. And that’s precisely what the weather forecast predicted for Galicia that weekend.
What’s more, the glorious weather meant that thousands of people would be out walking in the forest. Some would do something stupid, like smoke a cigarette in the wrong place. Most people are still not fully aware of fire risks. I should also mention that arsonists usually know exactly when is the best time to set a fire.
In sum, that weekend all risk factors were united to turn Galicia into a powder keg. That’s why I went. And it all came true.
A firefighter in Cualedro, Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
When I head off to a fire, I wear exactly the same protective gear as the firefighters, except my outfit is free of any logos. Over the years, I’ve developed a strong relationship with the firemen. We’re on the same side, and I often help them out, for example by taking them in my car from one spot to another.
When they’re fighting a fire they’re entirely covered in their protective outfit which means I can’t see their faces. They, on the other hand, know me instantly because I’m the only one carrying cameras. I often hear “Hey, Pedro’s here” from underneath helmets, but I don’t have a clue who’s talking to me. Sometimes firemen I’ve never met before walk up to me to shake my hand, because they’ve heard about my photo work.
A firefighter in Cualedro, Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
Of course it’s dangerous work. For starters, I have to cope with the same problems as everybody else: Blocked roads, hazardous access, etc. Once I’m in the fire, constant analysis of the situation is crucial. Where is the fire coming from? Where do I need to go? Everything is a function of the wind, the terrain, and the type of vegetation that’s burning.
And then you have to face the heat. Constant. Suffocating. But in fact that’s not the biggest danger. The worst is the smoke. It can be highly toxic, depending on what substances are burning up. The smoke can be very disorientating, too. A gust of wind, and suddenly you can no longer see the person who was just a metre away. And you can’t see where to run if you have to get out. And your face must be covered at all times. If it isn’t, a blast of 70 degrees Celsius hot air may enter into your mouth and throat and burn you up from the inside.
Whenever I’m in the middle of a forest fire it feels like the fire is a wild animal fleeing from a predator. It runs in one direction, then suddenly in another. It feigns movements to avoid the claws of the firefighters.
Firefighters in Cualedro, Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
The men in this picture belong to the BRIF, the auxiliary forest firefighter brigade. They are Spain’s shock troops in the fight against fire. Elite firemen who move swiftly, by helicopter, anywhere they have to. They deal with the most complicated situations, they are highly-trained in all fire extinction techniques.
If there’s a major blaze, the men will often fight it for 10 or 12 hours without stopping. One of the problems I face is when to stop shooting pictures and send them to my editors. I know that even the best pictures in the world are useless if I can’t get them out on time. I carry my laptop in my car, and I often send my pictures while the world around me is blazing.
Forest fire in Galicia, August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
One of the lesser-known methods of fire fighting is the use of heavy machinery. Bulldozers open a gap in the fire, and then firemen position themselves on either side of the opening trying to prevent the flames from spreading across. It doesn’t always work. In the picture above, a sudden gust of wind has propelled thousands of sparks into the sky, right over the gap.
A resident of Sandin, in Galicia, during a forest fire on August 24, 2013. AFP Photo / Pedro Armestre
The worst fires, of course, are the ones near inhabited areas. I took the picture above in Sandin. This woman, like most of her neighbours, covered herself as best she could and went off to extinguish the flames near her home. In moments like this, people easily panic. Drivers go at breakneck speed to get family members out of danger, or because someone suddenly remembers that there’s a horse that must be saved in a field near a raging blaze. Ironically, the chaotic reaction to fire often turns out to be more dangerous than the fire itself.
The photographer Pedro Armestre (right) and firefighters in Coin, Andalucia, in 2012.
Pedro Armestre is an independent photographer and videographer based
in Madrid. He is a regular contributor to AFP. Other examples of his
work can be found on his website.copiado http://www.afp.com/
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