2003 Okanagan Mountain Park Fire
From Freepedia
Image:2003 Okanagan Fire Rattlesnake.jpg Image:2003 Okanagan Fire Westbank.jpg Image:OKA.jpg On August 16, 2003 a wildfire was started by a lightning strike near Rattlesnake Island in Okanagan Mountain Park. The wildfire was fuelled by a constant wind and one of the driest summers in the past decade. Within a few days it had grown into a true firestorm.
The wildfire grew at a breakneck pace, so fast in fact that people observed the fire line moving fast enough to be visible from the opposite side of Okanagan Lake.
The fire grew northward and eastward, initially threatening a small amount of lakeshore homes, but quickly became an interface zone fire and forced the evactuation of 27,000 residents and consumed 239 homes. The final size of the firestorm was over 250 square kilometres (61,776 acres). Most of the trees in Okanagan Mountain Park were burned, and the park was closed.
60 fire departments, 1,400 armed forces troops and 1,000 forest fire fighters took part in controlling the fire, but were largely helpless in the face of a once in a hundred years disaster.
There were also at least 4 Canadair CL-215s and at least one Martin Mars water bomber working this fire. Aside from an unrelated crash, there was no loss of life during the entire incident.
External links
- "Okanagan Mountain Fire Watch". Castanet.net. URL accessed on September 30, 2005. - Firewatch page set up for local residents during the fire (has many photos)
- "Okanagan Mountain Fire 2003". Welcome To Kelowna.com. URL accessed on September 30, 2005.- Slideshow of fire photos
- "Fire Review Summary for Okanagan Mountain Fire (K50628)". Ministry of Forests and Range - Protection Branch. URL accessed on September 30, 2005.
- "2003 Firestorm Provincial Review". Province of British Columbia. URL accessed on September 30, 2005.
