The Coldest Day in Pittsburgh, Winter 1993

This picture was taken through the windows of the staff lounge at the hospital where I worked in the burns intensive care unit in December 1993. The beauty of winter, seen through the placid landscape of white roofs and steamy chimneys, is savaged by Man’s need to keep warm and the terrible unexpected fires that sweep through homes with unattended kerosene burners and poorly maintained bare-wire heaters.