Starvation Gulch

Pictures Galore!

Starvation Gulch is an event where groups ask companies beforehand for their leftover pallets.  Yesterday (Or maybe today) they stacked them together to build structures.  It's a competition to not only have the most pallets, but also the coolest building.  And also who has the biggest fire. 

These are what they looked like prior to being lit.  For being made of pallets of wood, they were constructed very creatively and look quite cool.  The white droplets you see is rain; it was a good, constant sprinkle all night.  Enough to be seen and get your hat a bit wet, but not nearly enough to bug you.  At the bottom right of the second picture are firefighters.  They used buckets to splash some flammable liquid over the wood.  I don't know what I was imagining, but I though they'd have a more scientific and controlled method to spread the fuel.

A building a bit to my right being ignited.  Again, I thought the firefighters would have a high-tech way of starting the fire.  But no, they used a flare attached at the end of a pole-saw.  I apologize for how often the crowd crowds in on my pictures; it was absolutely packed there, and you didn't want to get too close to the fencing holding us back because the fires were so hot.  

The building I was closest to burns.  It's the second picture at the top of this blog post.

There were some people only wearing hoodies, jeans, orange vests, and hats who I think helped build the buildings.  They left as soon as the fires really got going, because the radiation was so hot.  After that, it was just firefighters in their protective gear.

Fire.

Phone in the way of Fire.

Fire at crooked angle.

Fire as seen from a wet lens.

There were immense plumes coming up from these fires.  The smoke covering the sky, the heat from the fire, the sparks raining down, the actual rain, the cigarette smoke, and the booming party music all made for an interesting sort of apocalyptic and awesome atmosphere.

I don't know if that's an actual rain drop or if it's glare, but it's in a lot of my pics.

That orange plastic fence held us at bay.  Not that we'd want to get too close.

More Fire.

Fire.

Go to the very top picture on this page, then compare it to this one directly above.  Before and After pictures.

A different sort of beauty.  A sort of fascination egged on my pyromania.

That guy looks a lot closer to the fire than he is.  Also the sparks at the top look volcanic.

DJ playing party music that you can feel in every part of your body.  I could hear it a good distance away.

There were a lot of people there.  It was chilly when I was walking to the event and walking away.  However, when I was in the crowd, especially when I was near the fire, it was like a summer day.

From the hill above the event.

Looks like an actual fire.  If you didn't know the context of this picture, you might think it was taken during a riot.

Fire.

A video of Fire.  I watched it a couple times to make sure there was no swearing in it.