4th of July Fire north of I-40, Williams, Arizona
The City of Flagstaff cancelled their holiday fireworks about the day I arrived. Much unhappiness about the last hour decision-making; the civic groups had already invested up front money in glow-in-the-dark trinkets to sell, etc. But the folks in Flagstaff earned the right to say I told you so to their neighbors to the west.
They switched locations twice, but the city leaders of Williams thought they'd found a safe place to launch their fireworks display. I found a spot in the parking lot next tothe rodeo arena, with a number of families around. The show started out great, and then just stopped. A somewhat intoxicated man wandered out of the dark and said, "I don't think there are going to be any more fireworks, there's a fire over there," pointing in the direction of the fireworks launch site. Oops.
Read in the Flagstaff paper that it quickly burned a half acre, on city and forest service lands. The streaks in the photo are the cars and trucks that slowed down only slightly at the sight of a fire looming up in the darkness. A short, but memorable fireworks display for this year's fourth.
Monsoon weather started today. One day too late for the folks in Williams. Tomorrow I'm off to the North Rim, see if the clouds will gather that far north.
