As evening fell, my pilot friend John Wiley of the Santa Barbara Flying Club was kind enough to take me up for an aerial view of the Gap Fire, one of the most dramatic spectacles I've seen. This photo does not begin to convey the awesome force of the fire as it advanced toward Goleta and spewed putrid smoke and ash high into the skies over Santa Barbara. This image was shot near Broadcast Peak and shows the fire's western edge along the ridge over Tecolote Canyon.