Spreading Creek Wildfire

I've posted other photos of this wildfire in Banff National Park in Alberta, but we are getting close to that season again and are wondering what it will bring for us and for the Northwest. We had two fires within a mile or two of our house and several others, more serious, in our area last summer. In fact, the last few years have seen fires all over the Pacific Northwest and it seems sometimes that the whole area is burning. Hotter, drier summers have brought this increase and it is likely to continue. I have to work on a firebreak around our property, removing some dead trees and a lot of brush this summer and these photos are certainly a reminder of the work I have to do.

The photos were taken as we were driving up through Banff to Jasper on a 2014 trip through the Canadian Rockies. We noticed smoke near Saskatchewan Crossing along Highway 11 and decided to investigate. At first we only saw some small fires in the distance and helicopters with buckets fighting the fire. As we were taking photos, however, the wind kicked up and suddenly the fire was near the road and we could feel its heat. We decided we had better get out and as we did several cars and motorcycles that had passed us returned and the people who were fighting the fire had come and were closing the road.

This fire, known as the Spreading Creek Wildfire, was started by a lightning strike and burned for over two weeks. It scorched nearly 9000 hectares of forest and was made worse by winds and dry weather. It was only one of many wildfires in British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon and California that year. Indeed, there were times when the fires were so bad that the air quality deteriorated to the point that masks or staying indoors with windows shut were necessary. It seemed at times that sore throats from the poor air quality were a matter of course and only the autumn rains and cooler weather brought relief.