The young general was eager to have his army's story reported to the Western world, and arranged for extra soldiers to accompany the three journalists down the river. Hicks recalls a three-hour ride in a cargo plane, from Uganda to Congo, when he first arrived in Africa. At 16,000 feet, there was no air pressure and no heat in the plane, he says. It was difficult to breathe, and it was very cold. The boat trip yielded 20 images worthy of submission to The Times , says Hicks.
Someone has a good eye for disturbing stuff.
The identity of the photographer and details of the blaze, however, seemed lost until a Montana newspaper tracked him down. I've been doing this for 20 years and it ranks in the top three days of fire behavior I've seen. The day was August 6, when forest fires converged near the southwestern Montana town of Sula, turning the forest into a firestorm that overran 100,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes. The picture is featured on the NIFC Web site, but without credit to McColgan. Since he was working as a Forest Service firefighter, the shot is public property and cannot be sold.