Chase County, Kansas – Dan Bacon is setting flame to tallgrass along the roadside. He moves quickly. The wind is at his back, the fire chasing him as it spreads rapidly in the dry cover. The torch he pulls is fueled with a mixture of gasoline and diesel. He father, Boyd, told me that gasoline burns too fast, and the diesel too slow. So they mix’em.

Above, Boyd Bacon fills the torch with a gasoline/diesel mixture.

Boyd Bacon pulls the torch behind the Gator ATV

Looking back west a short time later, the smoke is already beginning to blot out the sun.