When I got back to my room yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find my face covered in black soot. My eyes still stung from the  smoke and my cheeks felt slightly stiff from so many tears drying on them under the intense heat of fire. I put down my camera, which had been damaged by either smoke or heat, and took off my blackened Nomex jacket, which smelled strongly of burnt palmetto. I had participated in my first controlled burn.  Continue reading →