In British Columbia Summer 2021 started like most others but at the end of June temperatures soared into the low 40 celsius which isn't uncommon but each day temperatures records were falling as the mercury went higher. Finally Litton BC topped out at 49.6 celsius. An all time record in Canada. The following day the entire community was destroyed by wildfire.
This was only one of many rank 6 fires burning in the south of the province. The city of Kamloops was surrounded by wildfires and received 1000's of people being evacuated from outlying areas.
Below are just a few of the photos I took during July and August of 2021. Instead of having fun in the mountains I was spending my time trying to document the destructive nature of these fire. The smoke was so this and toxic you weren't really couldn't be out climbing or hiking.
RJ85 Dropping Retardant on the Mt Peter Ridge Fire
This is an Avro RJ85 dropping retardant on the Mt Peter Ridge fire near Kamloops BC.
Q-400 Dropping Retardant on the Mt Peter Ridge Fire
AT 870 Fire Boss Water Dropping
The Whiterock lake fire was extremely aggressive. One Aug 7 2021 it made huge advances on the city of Vernon. At one point the entire city was on evacuation alert. This fire tore through outlying areas on the west side of Okanagan lake destroying homes and sending people fleeing in the middle of then night.
Team of Six Fire Boss Returning Home
The Fire Boss work as a team of six. They fly in formation making runs on the fire and dropping water to assist the firefighters working on the ground. The image above is them returning to the Kamloops Fire Center after making drops on the fire for several hours.
Rank 6 Fire Behaviour
The Tremont creek fire was another rank six fire burning near the Whiterock Lake fire. This image was taken above the community of Cherry Creek west of Kamloops. The fire had been advancing east for weeks. On this evening the fire was displaying severe behavior. As you can see from the photo the flames are incredibly big.
This entire region was severely impacted by the wildfire season. It was all consuming. I coped with it my learning all I could and shooting the fires was a great way to understand the situation as it evolved day by day.
I have a lot of footage from this summer and this is only a small sample. I have been displaying much of it on Twitter and have listed most of the images above as NFT. If you are in that space it is likely you have seen some of these photos and heard my story. If you live in BC... you know.