This photo was the first place winner of the Fire Category from the Oregon BLM's 2008 Photo Contest.

Photographer J.T. Sohr, an Engine Boss with six summer’s experience fighting fires, snapped this shot while his fatigued crew was taking a well-deserved break.

“We’d just finished a long period of putting out fires and saw some more storms on the way,” said J.T. “Everybody knew we’d be busy, so I took this photo of us taking a breather. It was the calm before the storm.”

Right after this photo, J.T. and his crew got up and went back to work.

“Hey, you’ve got to respond to the fires. And we all worked together and took care of them.”

When asked how the rainbow affected their mood, J.T. laughs, “That wasn’t usual. We’d never seen a rainbow that strong. And I can tell you we all appreciated it that day.”