Joshua Trees have been threatened at multiple wildfires, and this Joshua Tree forest at the Erskine Fire in 2016 was gutted in the blaze.

The image encompasses multiple elements I search for when documenting a wildfire, geography, fire behavior, and resources affected. It was a long day of fire coverage, with multiple homes destroyed and a burned bulldozer transport nearby. It was like standing in a Dr. Seuss novel set in hell, and I was on the verge of tears seeing my favorite tree in North America decimated.

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