.Is this the Scariest Halloween Photo Ever?

On Monday Oct. 9 I spent several hours taking photos and reporting on the North Bay fires as they impacted the Rincon Valley part of town. How’d I wind up there? Well, I got the call from the boss at around 7 a.m. and basically followed the smoke up Highway 101 and into Santa Rosa, until I found a fire. It was quite a day and unlike any other I’ve spent as a reporter and I know that it was a day like no other for many, many residents here. I spent a small part of the afternoon helping a local guy put out some flames that were encroaching upon the backyard of a house that hadn’t burnt up. Then I set out to record the destruction in and around Wild Lilac Lane. I saw many strange and sad things that day but when I came around a smoky bend in the road and saw this halloween figure dangling on a tree…darn near scared me right out of my shoes. I stood behind the decoration as it twisted gently in the ashy breezy and took this shot. In the background, that’s a propane fire at a house that burned down. Not so many treats in the Rincon Valley this Halloween, alas.