Amami Superman Photography

It was the beginning of class and we heard a fire alarm go off. It was loud enough to know that it was pretty close. I poked my head out the window and look for smoke in the direction the alarm was coming from and little by little smoke started to rise. I grabbed my camera and went out for a look.

At first I thought it was just something small with the little puffs of smoke I saw. But when I headed downstairs and got outside, it really started billowing.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28mm, 1/160 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 -- EXIF

As a walked a little further down the street, the clouds of smoke became much more darker.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 28mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 -- EXIF

The lady in the silver jacket at the bottom middle part of the photo is my wife's cousin. She is a volunteer fireman... firewoman? FirePERSON


By the time I got remotely close, there was a rather large crowd of people on each corner of the intersection. This was the first glimpse I got of the fire.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 36mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.3, ISO 200 -- EXIF

When I was in Junior High, my own house burnt down in a fire. I can imagine the thoughts going through the owner's minds.


All of a sudden, it started to pour rain. Luckily, I was standing next to an indoor garage and I jumped inside.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 52mm, 1/60 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF

As people from around the corner rushed in the garage to get out of the rain, I was pushed further and further back into it.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 50mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF

As you can see, it really started to pick up. Even from as far away as I was, I could still feel the intense heat of this fire. I can only imagine how hot it must be for the men and women fighting this fire.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 160 -- EXIF

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 38mm, 1/30 sec, f/5.3, ISO 220 -- EXIF

A lone police officer did his best to redirect traffic. Eventually they closed the streets down around this area which lead to large traffic jams around the city.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 200 -- EXIF

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125 -- EXIF

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 22mm, 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 140 -- EXIF

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/80 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 55mm, 1/40 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 -- EXIF

The man in the white t-shirt is barefoot. I can't imagine what it must be like to flee a burning building. The man across the street wearing the hard hat next to the boy on the bike is taking photographs of the crowd. If this fire is a case of arson, they view the photos of everyone watching. They do this because some arsonists like to view their own work.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 29mm, 1/80 sec, f/4.8, ISO 200 -- EXIF

I'm not sure how many fire engines were on the scene, but I'm sure they had the block surrounded.


I couldn't believe how many people were crowded on the streets to watch this fire. As I tried to make my way back home, I tried taking a few more shots as they got the fire under control.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 24mm, 1/50 sec, f/4.2, ISO 200 -- EXIF

I ducked below all the umbrellas to take this shot.

Nikon D60 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 22mm, 1/80 sec, f/4.5, ISO 200 -- EXIF

You can see here the policemen diverting traffic. I had to run some errands and the traffic was horrendous while trying to return home.

Nikon D60, 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 18mm, 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 200 -- EXIF

As I said before, when I was a kid, my house burnt down. It wasn't completely destroyed, but it was burnt never the less. I know some of the difficulties these people have to face when picking up the pieces.

I don't know how dramatic these photos may seem. Everything happen so quickly. Only 10 minutes lapsed from the time I took my first photo to this last one. The fire teams did their jobs well in getting the fire under control quickly. I was pretty impressed.

I don't know if anyone was seriously injured in this fire. I heard a few ambulances so I imagine there were. Fire can be a terrible thing. It makes me think twice about the situation in my own home.