An artist performs a fire kettle show during the Mid-Autumn Festival at a night market in Beijing, Tuesday, September 17, 2024. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)
An Indian soldier blows fire as he performs an acrobatic manoeuvre known as 'Mallakhamb' during an event in Jaipur on December 5, 2024. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/AFP Photo)
The towers of the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral, which was ravaged by a fire in 2019, are reflected in a puddle ahead of the reopening ceremonies, in Paris, France, on December 4, 2024. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/Reuters)
A woman cries outside her house after armed gangs set it on fire in the Post Marchand neighborhood of Port-au-Prince on December 17, 2024. (Photo by Clarens Siffroy/AFP Photo)
A Fulton Hotshot lights a controlled burn on the so-called “Rough Fire” in the Sequoia National Forest, California, August 21, 2015. In California, suffering its worst drought on record, about 2,500 people were forced to flee Christian camps east of Fresno at Hume Lake as the so-called Rough Fire crossed Highway 180, officials said. (Photo by Max Whittaker/Reuters)
We are all drawn to fire, entranced by its beauty and ferociousness. Its brilliance draws us in like moths to a candle flame. Thus, many of the celebrations that humans have involve lighting fires. They can be big or small; there could be many little lights or one giant inferno; they may float on water, burn on land, or rise high into the skies. Loi Krathong is a festival that is held each year in Thailand and a number of other places. During this festival thousands of little fires are lighted, presenting a marvelous sight for all the onlookers. It is believed that this tradition is an adaptation of Brahmanical festival, which was adopted by Thai Buddhists to honor Buddha.
These are incredible pictures of skilled aircraft pilots flying through raging infernos to put out enormous flames. Daredevil Italian photographer Antonio Grambone, 46, jumped up close to the blaze to capture the incredible images of forest fires in the National Park of Cilento and Vallo di Diano, in the province of Salerno in Italy. At great risk to himself, Antonio captured these incredible shots making them appear like Italian masterpieces.
Photo: On target: Brave pilots are on a course straight into these enormous flames as they release tonnes of water onto the fire. (Photo by Antonio Grambone/Caters News Agency Ltd)
A woman waits at a polio immunisation health centre, in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, August 29, 2016. Nigeria's military has liberated large swathes of land from Boko Haram but a ride with an army convoy, all guns firing for fear of ambush, shows how far the northeast is from normality after a brutal Islamist insurgency that has displaced millions. (Photo by Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)