The existance of these photos was a complete accident; I've been cooped up at home for over a week due to car problems, and I finally made it out to run some errands. I decided to have a leisurely lunch/dinner at a nearby park, and as I was leaving the house, I decided on a whim to grab my camera.

As luck would have it, one of the largest fires the area has seen for a long time started two blocks away as I was finishing my meal. So, I was able to capture the heroic work of the Harrisonburg Fire Department as the event unfolded.

After I narrowed down the location of the blaze, I parked my car and climbed up the nearest hill to figure out exactly what was going on. When I reached the top of the hill, I received my answer; Dave's Recycling had caught on fire.

From the same spot, I also witnessed Tower 2, the newest HFD tower-truck, preparing to fight the blaze from the other side of the building. I'd never seen one of these vehicles setting up before, I've only seen them fully-ready or in transit, so this was rather interesting as well. Unfortunately, the winds changed after T2 began extending its ladder, and the smoke smelled a bit chemical-laden for my tastes, so I vacated my perch and headed for the Food Lion parking lot down the hill, where everyone else in town gathered.