Hidden fires move slowly down a canyon as smoke settles in the cool, evening air at the Basin Complex Fire, near Carmel Valley, California.

A helicopter drops red fire retardant on the advancing fire to slow it while bulldozers finish fire breaks further down the canyon at the La Brea Fire, California.

The sky is reflected in a Sierra Mountain lake behind wildflowers — the clean air, blue water and green land that citizens want without the fire that is required to maintain it in California's fire adapted ecology.

The Groveland Hotshots march in single file toward the safe zone after clearing a fire break in preparation for controlled burning.

A fire engine crew member hauls lengths of firehose up a steep hill through the brush to bring water to a spot fire that has jumped the fire break. The water is used to cool the fire so that a ground crew can clearcut line around the blaze and cover the embers with dirt.

A Dalton Hotshot firefighter clears a three foot (90cm) line down to bare soil around an errant fire that has jumped the fire break. Much of the dangerous work is performed by elite ground crews in steep terrain with 55 lb. (25 kg) packs, 25 lb.(11 kg) chainsaws, shovels and rakes, and two gallons (3.78 l) of water for a ten hour shift.

A woman on the Chuchupati Flight Crew 530 uses her "Pulaski" tool to clear a circle around a spot fire that jumped over the fire break at the La Brea Fire.

Embers burn hot even after a helicopter water drop during the La Brea fire in the Los Padres National Forest in California. Chaparral burns hot and fast with 20 foot flame lengths, and a water drop can cool an area enough to allow firefighters on the ground to cut a fire line around fire to stop it.

Daniel Diaz, a sawyer in the Kern Valley Hotshots, ends the day carrying his 25 lb (12 kg) chainsaw up a hill after clearing heavy brush around a spot fire at the La Brea Fire.

Texas Canyon Hotshots firefighters crowd into an available truck for a ride from the fire line to their staging site as they head to camp after the evening shift change.

Burned forest from the Station Fire forms a backdrop for the storage shed of a water depot in the Angeles National Forest. The demand to protect structures built in forests (the "urban interface") rather than environmental concerns determines a great deal of wildfire management policy.

A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 drops a load of retardant on the Station Fire near Los Angeles. The airtanker can carry 12,000 gallons of water or retardant, costs $41,000 per day, looks great on TV, and is best suited for flat terrain, not the steep, hilly canyons of the Station Fire.

Joseph Darling of the Kern Valley Hotshots watches the fire line at the end of the day during the La Brea Fire in California.

A firefighting helicopter flies into thick smoke, a dangerous maneuver without visability in hilly territory, at the La Brea Fire in California. Firefighters are constantly balancing the risks of flying at night, in smoke or high wind, with the benefits of being able to use air support to fight fire.

Glowing smoke fills the sky and sparkling embers dot the hills as night settles on the La Brea Fire in the Los Padres National Forest, California.

Flame from the fire he has just lit chases a Vista Grande Hotshot firefighter uphill to the safe zone during a night burning operation, an attempt to cut off the main fire, at the Station Fire near Los Angeles.

Flying embers shoot past a Vista Grande Hotshot firefighter as winds pick up during a night burning operation at the Station Fire near Los Angeles.

A Vista Grande Hotshot firefighter pauses to assess his surroundings during a night burning operation at the Station Fire near Los Angeles.