A big thanks to all the firefighters for keeping the Healdsburg post office fire contained to one building. The restaurant Ravenous and the Northcoast Bank next door were untouched. Friends of mine told me smoke could be seen and smelled throughout town, but I had no knowledge of this since I was in Santa Rosa with my sketch group that evening. I also heard that two Windsor firefighters were injured while containing the blaze and I hope they have a speedy recovery.

While drawing two emergency vehicles outside the Healdsburg fire station, the scene reminded me of a fire engine sketch created by illustrator James Jean. It’s from a wonderful book called An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory. James Jean is one of my favorite sketch artists and this particular drawing contains a great deal of detail. But really, it’s the solidness of the truck that he captured that impresses me the most.

Before I had a chance to finish my drawing, a fireman backed the fire engine inside the station and the other emergency vehicle was driven away, a real disappointment. But, I did my best to remember remaining details in order to finish the sketch as best I could from memory.