On Saturday morning, June 17, 2006 I set out on a five-day cross-country trip to Sedona, AZ with my oldest brother David, who had moved there two years earlier. It was a much needed vacation for me and a necessary trip for my brother to retrieve some things from home in Buffalo, NY.

On Sunday morning, the Brins Mesa Fire in Oak Creek Canyon started one mile north of Sedona. We watched the fire's progress on the national news as we made overnight stops in Abilene, KS; Colorado Springs and Durango, CO.

By the time we arrived in Arizona on Wednesday, June 21, the fire had already burned 1,500 acres of the Cocanino National Forest and was only five-percent contained. More than 400 firefighters were already committed to the effort.

It was the first thing we saw as we came down Interstate 17 out of Flagstaff, requiring us to take an alternate route because Route 89A was closed through Oak Creek Canyon. As we made our way north on Route 179, we could see the smoke billowing behind the silhouette of the famous Bell Rock outside of the Village of Oak Creek.

I've been to a lot of fires in my 25 years as a firefighter but this was nothing like anything I had ever seen before. I was definitely out of my element.

Naturally, my curiosity was peaked and we had to go in for a closer look...

For the complete story, click my regular column at Firehouse.com: http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/Photo-Stories/Western-Wild-Fire...