Drone Photos Capture Fire Damage at Meher Mount
By margaret Magnus
RUSSELL LATIMER working the drone camera to capture Meher Mount's landscape and fire damage just a month after the December 2017 Thomas Fire. (Photo: Margaret Magnus, January 4, 2018)
In the efforts to fully record the damage from the December 2017 Thomas Fire, Meher Mount worked with drone photographer Russell Latimer of Eye of Mine Action Cameras.
THE PRASAD ORCHARD TRAIL winds down the charred hillside to the meadow called The Prasad Orchard. Avatar's Point, where Baba's Tree is located, is in the upper right-hand corner. (Photo: Russell Latimer, January 4, 2018)
At the time, it seemed like a slight extravagance. Then again, the fire had stripped the landscape, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture not only the damage, but also the stark beauty of the landscape.
Once we realized how quickly life returns after a fire, the team was glad that Meher Mount had taken advantage of the opportunity to record the immediate aftermath of the fire.
THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN at Meher Mount. The white-roofed building in the foreground is the Visitor Center/Caretaker Quarters. Above it, the green-roofed buildings are the Workshop, Topa Topa Patio, and carport. The black rectangle is the former swimming pool, now water reservoir for the water treatment system. The pathways lead to Baba's Tree. (Photo: Russell Latimer, January 4, 2018)
The following is a 34-minute, unedited video of the drone footage covering different parts of the top of the mountain at Meher Mount. The white ash looks as if it recently snowed in the area.