Watch as one of the Seven Wonders of the World Burns- Sedona's Oak Creek Canyon is going up in Flames

Flames are raging through Oak Creek Canyon just north of Sedona near a popular recreation area known as Slide Rock State Park. The flames are taking out Ponderosa Pines in a flash, backed by strong winds and stoked by dry forest conditions. The wildfire started on Tuesday afternoon May 20 with reports being released around 4pm. It immediately prompted evacuations and road closures along Arizona State Highway 89.

The Slide Fire is not contained at all as of this posting (11 am May 21 2014). Its raging about 7 miles north of Sedona in the revered Oak Creek Canyon, home to one of Arizona's rare creeks that contains water year round and riparian habitat, as well as Arizona State Highway 89, a well traveled scenic route lined with campgrounds, state parks, restaurants, lodges, upscale resorts, luxury homes and trailer parks. I'm writing this article from my home on Oak Creek in Sedona, about 8 miles south of the fire, where I can see air tankers and helicopters flying overhead.

For a few hours on Tuesday evening, there was a live stream of the fire raging through the canyon available here, coming from a news camera circling over the area. The footage was absolutely stunning. Not only could you see the fire spreading in various directions along the western side of the canyon, flames shooting up ponderosa pines, and helicopters dropping buckets of water in real time, but you could see the dramatic red rock plateaus and all the wonders of the landscape surrounding Sedona. Some of it is recapped this video, and the latest news camera coverage is here, but I haven't seen the live webcam feed today.