Kristi McCluer's best photograph: playing golf while America burns

‘I wanted to capture the beauty and horror of the fire. But then these golfers turned up and got in the way of my picture’

I noticed the Eagle Creek fire when I was 14,000 feet in the air above Oregon in early September. I was preparing for my third skydive of the day and, through the plane door, I spotted a vertical plume of smoke that hadn’t been there on my previous jump. A lot of fires pop up at this time of year, so it wasn’t surprising – but I didn’t realise how big it would become or that it was Eagle Creek, which is one of my favourite trails to hike.

A couple of days later, after the fire had spread, I went to take photos. I ended up being redirected and found myself in the parking lot of a golf course that I didn’t know existed. I completely stumbled on this scene.

Related: Massive Oregon wildfire started by teen with fireworks, police say