Huge timbers in the sky
Since my last post on Sunday 9th July, the BC wildfires further north have continued to rage, often with devastating effect. I think current tote is 150+ fires, most manageable by the firefighters, but some out of control at 3000 to 4000 HA (30 to 40 km sq), and one of nearly 50,000 HA (500 km sq) up in one of the remote parks. To give those readers back in UK a feel for scale and distance, BC is 944,735 sq km and UK (which at this date still includes Scotland) is 242,495 sq km, so BC is roughly 4 x the size of UK. The map below gives an overview of where the fires are today in relationship to my location at KCR (Koocanusa Ranch) down near the US border. Of the bigger fires, 100 Mile House is approx 600 km away as the crow flies, and Williams Lake about 800 km away. Williams Lake is a town of 10,000 people and was evacuated a week ago as a precaution. Down here, so far, we have been fine, with a couple of small fires within 40 km of my location that were quickly ...