Bad Helicopter Season

[RotorPilot]

Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003

 

Fires give chase to another B.C. town

 

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

 

By Jane Armstrong and Gwendolyn Richards

 

 

Chase, B.C., and Vancouver — Smoke billows in plumes from the mountain fires in B.C.'s Interior, turning the evening sky a hazy orange and dusting the streets of Chase with hot ash as residents in the small town prepare to flee.

 

… … …

 

With no co-operation from the weather, resources continue to be stretched thin by the number of major fires in B.C.

Of the 853 burning across the province, 15 to 20 have potential to grow and become a threat to structures, Mr. Bachop said.

"Throw a dart at a map of B.C., and there's a good chance it's going to land somewhere near a fire that's burning that's a concern for us."

 

… … …

 

More than 700 firefighters are using 128 pieces of equipment and 12 helicopters to fight the 22,335-hectare blaze, which has been 50 per cent contained.

 

… … …

 

Full story:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Story/National/

[RotorPilot]

2003 Aug 20 7:22:15

 

New fire threat in B.C. Interior

 

KELOWNA, B.C. - An evacuation alert has been issued for more than 2,000 people in a Kelowna suburb. Emergency officials are concerned they may be in the way of a raging forest fire.

 

 

Full story:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/08/19/bcfires030819

[RotorPilot]

2003 Aug 21

 

B.C. fires force more evacuations

 

KAMLOOPS, B.C. - More than 900 people in Pritchard, B.C., have been ordered from their homes because of growing forest fires in the B.C. Interior.

 

People in Pritchard, about 35 kilometres east of Kamloops, had about an hour's notice at supper time Wednesday night before they had to pack up and leave.

 

Full story:

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/08/21/bcforestfire030821

 

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2003 Aug 21

 

B.C. fire out of control

 

By Gwendolyn Richards

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

 

Vancouver — Miranda Halladay had just fallen asleep again after giving her eight-day-old son his 3 a.m. feeding when a knock on the door brought the warning: The family was on a one-hour alert to leave their home and their 10-acre orchard winery nestled into the Okanagan Valley.

The out-of-control Okanagan Mountain Park blaze was exploding. Erratic winds were forcing it both north and south, moving the flames along at up to 50 metres a minute. In 24 hours it grew fivefold, from 2,000 hectares to more than 11,000.

 

Full story:

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/

[204B Driver]

I am sitting here in my office and the smoke is really thick out side. Lots of ash on the deck. If you are comeing to Kelowna you won't enjoy the sun because it is not visible.

[Rosco]

Things here in Northern Ontario are relatively quiet on the fire front. For those of you working or living in threatened areas of the west, be safe and we're thinking of you guys.

[RotorPilot]

I am sitting here in my office and the smoke is really thick out side.  Lots of ash on the deck.  If you are comeing to Kelowna you won't enjoy the sun because it is not visible.

 

Now I ask 204 Driver

 

What are you doing there, sitting down, (maybe enjoying a cold blonde) instead of going fighting the fires !? !? :rant:

 

About going there for a visit just watch the post below :shock:

[RotorPilot]

Thursday, 2003 August 21

 

B.C. issues fire travel advisory

 

More than 850 blazes are burning across the province

 

The Associated Press

 

KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- As a wildfire near Kelowna grew fivefold in a day, the B.C. government issued its most restrictive travel advisory for the tinder-dry province.

Authorities warned people yesterday to avoid the backcountry in the southern half of British Columbia because of raging forest fires.

 

"We're concerned about the safety of the public out there, should another fire start, and we don't want any more human-caused fires," said Rick Clevette, a government spokesman.

He said the voluntary restriction stretches from Prince George in the north, 330 miles south to the U.S. border and from Vancouver Island to the Alberta border, a distance of 420 miles.

 

Full Story:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/136025_wildfires21.html

[rotrhd1]

disregard

[RotorPilot]

Friday, 2003 Aug. 22

 

10,000 flee B.C. fire as homes burn

 

Globe and Mail Update and Canadian Press

 

 

Emergency officials rushed to move about 10,000 people from their suburban homes overnight in Kelowna, B.C., as an aggressive fire moved closer, and this morning, thousands more are on alert to flee.

"It was fast, it was very fast," said Karen Cairns, a regional emergency official, describing how quickly officials moved to evacuate homes in the southeast Kelowna suburbs, including Okanagan Mission, Okaview, Kettle Valley and Uplands.

"We believe between 9,000 and 10,000 people have been evacuated," Carol Suhan, an information officer at the Emergency Operation Centre, told globeandmail.com.

 

Full story:

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/

 

 

PICS

 

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Friday, 2003 August 22 - Page A1

 

Kelowna fire forces 5,000 to flee

 

By Mark Hume And Gwendolyn Richards

 

 

NARAMATA, B.C. and VANCOUVER -- Official rushed last night to remove more than 5,000 people from their southeast Kelowna-area homes as a forest fire raged out of control on Okanagan Mountain.

 

Full story:

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/Articl...onal/TopStories

 

____________________________________________________________________

 

2003, Aug. 22

 

 

B.C. blazes still threatening - Residents pray for cooler weather

 

Huge balls of sparks rain down

 

NARAMATA, B.C.—As a mushrooming fire reduced much of Okanagan Mountain Park to ash, one resident of a small lakeshore town on evacuation alert said yesterday there was nothing left to do but pray.

"Our community is together on this," said Linda Caton, 44, who lives in Naramata, where roughly 1,000 are on evacuation notice, along with residents of some 2,000 homes in neighbouring Kelowna suburbs.

"We are praying for winds to change," she said. "It's in God's hands at this point."

 

Full story:

http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...id=970599119419

[RotorPilot]

Saturday, 2003 Aug. 23

 

30,000 residents flee Kelowna homes

 

Globe and Mail Update

 

By Tara Perkins

 

Winds spurred on the forest fires that are roaring out of control in B.C.'s interior, forcing more than 20,000 people to flee Friday night. By Saturday morning, many houses had been devoured by flames.

 

About 30,000 residents have now been issued evacuation orders, Karen Cairns, an information officer, told globeandmail.com Friday.

 

A further 8,000 are still on alert, told that they might have to pack up and leave at a moment's notice, after the fire began advancing at speeds up to 100 metres/minute.

 

... ... ...

 

Full story:

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/

 

 

PICS

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____________________________________________________________________

 

Saturday, 2003 Aug. 23

 

Fires pushes 20,000 from homes in Kelowna suburbs

 

Tiffany Crawford and Carol Harrington

Canadian Press

 

KELOWNA, B.C. -- Police with bullhorns ordered a staggering 20,000 people to leave their homes in the southern suburbs of this Okanagan city Friday night as fast-moving flames moved ever closer.

 

It brought the total number of evacuees driven out by the Okanagan Mountain Park fire to 30,000, said statement issued late Friday by the regional district.

 

... ... ...

 

Full stroy:

http://www.canada.com/national/features/fi...BA-CE8C1E135F21

 

 

____________________________________________________________________

 

Saturday, 2003 Aug. 23

 

B.C. battles `terrible force' of nature

Kelowna residents flee Okanagan Mountain blaze

Thousands put on evacuation alert as wildfires rage

 

Daniel Girard

WESTERN CANADA BUREAU

 

VANCOUVER—His van packed and the cat and dog at the ready, Ron Dyck is just one wind shift away from being forced out of his home by the forest fire raging nearby.

 

One of about 1,000 residents in the community of Naramata on a one-hour alert to get out, Dyck and his neighbours have so far escaped the Okanagan Mountain fire that has forced a massive evacuation of homes on the southern outskirts of Kelowna.

 

"People have a sense that we're lucky to have avoided this," Dyck, 59, said in an interview yesterday from his home in the village, about 15 kilometres south of the fire.

 

"We know that rain is the only thing that's going to put this thing out. It's just so huge."

 

... ... ...

 

Full story:

http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...ol=968793972154

 

 

PICS

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Saturday, 2003 Aug. 22

 

 

Can't stop Mother Nature, Premier says Gordon Campbell awestruck by destructive power of B.C. forest fires after aerial tour

 

KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell couldn't find the words to describe the destructive power of fires that have so far devoured an area a third of the size of Prince Edward Island in his province.

 

"I continue to be struck by the size, the magnitude, the scale and I can't find the words to describe it," he said after an aerial tour of major fires ravaging the southern B.C. interior on Friday.

 

"The smoke just goes on and on. And just the scale, I wish I could describe it to people."

 

... ... ...

 

Full story:

http://www.canada.com/national/features/fi...6B-37CA7810A449

 

PICS

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http://media.canada.com/scripts/locate.asp...A5-C40D555891B6