Fire K30285
The sound of helicopters is relentless. Good morning Salmon Arm!
Flight from the Flames is a photographic account of the Silver Creek Fire of 1998. Called Fire K30285 by the B.C. Wildfire Service, it started with a small lightning strike on July 29th and quickly spread from Fly Hills, across the Salmon Valley, and jumped to Mt. Ida at a rate of 90 km an hour.
K30285 threatened a whole community. When Premier Glen Clark declared a state of emergency, 7,000 people were forced from their homes in the largest civil evacuation in B.C.’s history. Salmon Arm held that record for five years.
The Princess Patricia Light Infantry and I Combat Engineer Regiment (1CER), along with other community firefighters, RCMP, Search and Rescue, and BC Ambulance Services were enlisted to help. These are some of their stories…
Feature cartoon:
Bob Muirhead, Salmon Arm Observer, 1998