Size: 18” x 36” with a 1” white border on Hahnemuhle 300gsm cotton rag paper

Signed & stamped in verso

On June 10th 1999 a valve failure in a pipeline carrying gasoline near this point caused a pressure backup which ruptured the pipeline spilling raw gasoline into the creek. For nearly two hours gasoline flowed unchecked, turning the creek pink. At 5:02PM it ignited sending a fireball of massive proportions careening down the stream. A plume of black smoke shot upward to over 30,000 feet. Three people died, including two children.

This is a small park in a small town and this happened before I was a photographer. I photographed this many years later but something about this story always strikes me when I’m back in these small woods.

I know I didn’t shoot this image with this event in mind, I simply liked the look of the small waterfall coming through this gap, liked the mossed rocks and darkness against the pop of the water. But to imagine a fireball coming through here just seems so strange as to border absurdity.

Location: Whatcom Falls, Bellingham

Nikon D810, Voigtlander 40mm, 2min exposure, 4 vertical frames