Smoke From Wildfire Billows Near Hamilton, Montana

A NEST monitoring camera at the home of Jeff Kempka in Hamilton, Montana, recorded the rapid spread of a wildfire near the town on July 31.
Interestingly, Jeff had recently installed the camera as part of a collaboration between NEST and Roads and Kingdoms, a travel and culture site that shows live feeds from around the globe. They spotted the views from his home on his public Airbnb listing.Jeff told Storyful: "A couple months ago a person from Roads and Kingdoms (www.roadsandkingdoms.com), a travel and culture site, contacted me when she saw our Airbnb listing. She was intrigued by our photos, specifically our view of the mountains. In collaboration with Nest cameras, R & K gave me a camera to point at the mountains, with that live feed on their site, with other live feeds from around the globe.
“On Sunday, July 31 I walked out the front door and notice a smoke plume directly west of us. I called 911 and reported it, and they said it was first reported about 10 minutes prior. Over the next two hours I watched in shock and awe as the fire moved at a speed I had never seen before (We see many fires every summer). Soon it looked like a volcano erupting with the ash cloud overhead. Chunks of burnt pine needles, bark and branches rained down.
“Around this time I remembered the Nest camera was pointed directly at the location of the fire. I later reviewed the footage and thought it would look amazing via time-lapse.” Credit: Jeff Kempka