(CNN) – In the image, three firefighters in Oroville, California, appear to be saving an American flag from the impending fire on Saturday. One rescuer, held up by two crewmates, is seen reaching up to remove the flag from the side of a home. The identities of the firefighters, as well as the specific location of the home, are unclear.
As raging fires across the West continue to raze thousands of acres and force thousands of people from their homes, the photo is an uplifting reminder that not everything can be destroyed.
Josh Edelson, the photographer who took the picture, shoots wildfires in California every summer. He saw the fire, which was about a couple hundred yards away, slowly creeping up the hill toward the home. Firefighters from Cal Fire were spraying water on nearby weeds and doing other preventative measures to defend the house.
And then, Edelson said, there was a brief moment of calm.
“That was about the time they turned around and saw the flag, and they wanted to get it down,” Edelson told CNN. “But it was pretty high up; they couldn’t reach it.”
