To be filed under “There’s always something…” or perhaps “Never a dull moment down on the farm…” , today we had some serious excitement here in our valley. A freight train came through (the rail tracks run through our farm and down the valley, following the Fraser River) and had some brake issues. Sparks from the dragging wheels set a number of fires through our neighbours’ farms and ranches; luckily it just missed us, but it was rather, umm, interesting when we saw the smoke columns, just before the fire crews showed up. (Very quickly, I am happy to say.)
It’s being held at bay this evening, after some seriously intense work by two big retardant bombers and their spotter planes, plus three helicopters with buckets dipping water out of the river. Fingers crossed that the wind doesn’t pick up. Here are a few pictures taken from a neighbour’s lawn a few hours ago, as we stood around watching and formulating “what to take” plans as the trees on the ridge burst into flame, just before the bombers nailed the fire margin on our side.
The “bird dog” plane sets the path for the bomber – you can just see him heading out at the top right of the picture.
Pass after pass after pass…
…for which we are all exceedingly grateful. Our tax dollars at work, as we joked to each other as we watched, but no one’s going to argue about this use of our public funds.
When the bombers left to refill their tanks, the helicopters took over, targetting hot spots.
And so to bed, to sleep rather lightly, I suspect.
The ground crews were just setting up this evening; they’ll be here for at least a few days until everything is under control. Could still get away if the wind picks up, but we are all below the fire on the slope so feeling pretty good about things, as fires tend to burn “up” the hillsides.
A bit too hot, this particular summer day, don’t you agree?
Edited to add these, sent by a neighbour on the other side of the ridge. Despite the nearness of the flames to the buildings, all people, houses, and livestock are safe. A very close thing, and not over yet.
Ranch buildings shrouded in smoke as the flames burn up the hillside. Irrigation sprinklers were moved in to protect structures.
Looking upriver from the south over our valley and the two main fire areas. We are safely to the north, past the furthest smoke column. Two neighbour ranches are directly involved, with fires still burning tonight across the railway tracks from the buildings. They won’t be getting too much sleep, I’m afraid…
Leaves & Pages 
Wow. You were really lucky to escape that, but what amazing pictures. Very glad no people or animals were affected.
The pictures look wonderful but can see it must be worrying too. The area is so beautiful – makes me slightly wistful for my home in Scotland – I’m reading your post looking at the chimneys of Battersea Power Station in London! Hope the fires are all kept under control for you.
I really hope that everything stays under control, but every cloud and all that – what fabulous photos!
Good heavens! I’m glad everyone’s okay, and I ardently hope it stays that way. Your pictures are wonderful!
So glad they seem to be getting it under control, and that everyone is safe. Praise the Lord!
Yvonne geensen.
My sister and I where just coming home to mcleese lake yesterday and looked down to the soda creek ranch and saw the fires,my heart quickly sank as I thought oh no ….I know this family ,we continued on down the highway to home as we live just over the ridge on mcleese lake ,looking up to the sky the bombers came flying over the ridge over our back yard,we were nervous as the smoke was beginning to build and build i begain thinking the worst,but the team did their job and all went well,and hope that this will not happen again this is to close to home ….. i love the pictures too.
Hi Yvonne. This morning they were hitting it hard on the top side (your side!), to keep it from going over the top to McLeese, and – fingers crossed! – it does seem like it is now well contained. My son has just now arrived from the fire zone and reports that while there are still some very hot spots, with two helicopters still on the job, and a foresty ground crew working from tankers. They’ve built a fire break up above the ridge as well for an extra margin of safety. Looks like everyone dodged the bullet this time – WAY too close to home! Hoping this is it for our area for this sort of excitement. Scary how fast it all happened – and really lucky there were so many people on the spot so fast. So many people showed up to help! What a great community we have. 🙂
Yvonne , I’m certain this is an old post as it is now dec 2014… Would love to connect with you if you are …the same Yvonne who stood up for us with j.redpath in the 70s ….shawn….ratst@telus.net
shawn ,this is Yvonne,i just read your post and relized this is shawn lang,i tried sending you an email and it does not go forward.
My email is yvonnegeensen@yahoo.ca
Amazing photos, Barb. It’s so impressive to see the work the fire fighters can do from the air – but also scary when you’re near enough to see that! We had a few holidays up around Shusawp where the fires came too close for comfort. Nothing quite like a middle of the night knock on the door ordering you to evacuate. Stay safe!
Oh, yes – there have been some frightful fires all through the interior over the years! This is just a tiny blip compared to the really bad ones. But this will do, thank you very much! 😉
Thank you everyone for the comments and good wishes. The two families directly affected with fthe fire still burning on their hillsides report that things are going very well; all of the cows and horses are well out of the danger zone, everyone has power and water, and the ranch crew is even back at work harvesting silage today. There is a large ground crew of 40+ people working on the fire, which is “officially” classified as covering 40 hectares, or about 100 acres. This is such a small fire compared to the huge ones burning right now in other parts of BC, but they are treating it very seriously and it is such a comfort to see how professional the forestry fire crews are, and how fast they responded. “Lucky” is the word everyone is using today!
We do live in a very beautiful part of the world, and enjoy the relative isolation of living in the country with forest all around, but things like this remind us of how steep and difficult the terrain is and how quickly things can go wrong. There was no way ground crews could have safely tackled the fire on that hillside; those air crews are crucial. Words cannot tell how appreciative we all are.