RHH's photos with the keyword: saskatchewan crossing

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.

This helicopter was fighting photographed in 2014 near Saskatchewan crossing fighting a wildfire in that area, dipping water out of the North Saskatchewan River and dumping it on hot spots. We had to leave the area shortly after the photo was taken when the fire kicked up and approached the road we were on. The photo was taken by my wife.

This was the view behind us as we drove back up Highway 11 in Banff after driving down it to watch a wildfire near Saskatchewan crossing. We were in the Canadian Rockies on a 2014 trip through several of the parks and had stopped to watch this fire when the fire came close to the road and forced us to leave very quickly.

This was what we witnessed in 2014 when the wildfire in Banff near Saskatchewan Crossing approached the road we were on and forced us to get out of the area. We had driven down Highway 11 to watch the fire but that did not last long and when the fire came near the road we had to get out quickly. At this point we could feel the heat of the fire.

When we drove down Highway 11 in Banff National Park in Alberta in 2014 to watch a wildfire there, this is what we first saw. The fire seemed to be under control and far from the road. There was little flame, though a lot of smoke, and helicopters were dipping water out of the river and dumping it on hot spots. When the wind came up, however, the fire roared back to life and was soon near the road forcing us to leave.

This is the area that was burned by the Spreading Creek Wildfire in 2014. If you look closely you can see the burned trees in the distance as well as in the foreground. We came through this area over four years after the fire shown in the last set of photos and made a point of stopping for new photos.

This is the area burned by the 2014 Spreading Creek Wildfire. It's was winter when they photo was taken, so it's not evident whether much was growing, but it still looked desolate to us.

Here is the area shown in the previous set of photos but over four years later. In 2014 we witnessed the Spreading Creek Wildfire burning in this area and this year were able to see what the area looked like now.

The area near Saskatchewan Crossing in Banff National Park in Alberta that was burned by the Spreading Creek Wildfire in 2014 still looks desolate some four years later.

When we came through Kootenay, Banff and Jasper in 2014 this is what we found at Saskatchewan Crossing in Banff and this is what I wrote at that time: "We had stopped to photograph the helicopters involved in fighting the fire which was not even visible away from the road when two motorcyclists roared by us. As they disappeared into the distance the wind kicked up the fire and suddenly it was near enough the road that we could feel its heat. With the fire so close and firefighters suddenly rushing around we knew our curiosity had no place there and prepared to drive away. As we did several cars and the motorcyclists came tearing back out of the smoke and one motorcyclist stopped and looked back as if to say 'that was a very close call.' My wife continued to snap photos as we left the fire behind us the firefighters barricaded and closed the road." I've posted these photos now since tomorrow I want to post some photos of the same area more than four years later.

This photo was taken in 2014 on a trip through the Canadian Rockies. At that time we stopped to photograph the Spreading Creek Wildfire in the area of Saskatchewan Crossing. This year we went through the area gain and photographed the results of that fire.

Coming through the Canadian Rockies this year we photographed the same area in which this wildfire was burning in 2014. The area is still burned over and full of dead trees.

I've posted this and the last photo as reminder of what we are going through here in Washington and as a tribute to those who are busy fighting the fires, some of them from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, and three of them (National Forest Service firefighters) who died in these efforts. It has been the worst season ever for fires not only in Washington but across the Pacific Northwest. As I noted with the previous photo, this fire was not in Washington but near Saskatchewan Crossing in Alberta in 2014. We had stopped to photograph the helicopters involved in fighting the fire which was not even visible away from the road when two motorcyclists roared by us. As they disappeared into the distance the wind kicked up the fire and suddenly it was near enough the road that we could feel its heat. With the fire so close and firefighters suddenly rushing around we knew our curiosity had no place there and prepared to drive away. As we did the motorcyclists came tearing back out of the smoke and this one stopped and looked back as if to say "that was a very close call." My wife snapped this photo just before they and we left the fire behind us the firefighters barricaded and closed the road.

This summer has been the hottest and driest on record for our state and now we are going through the worst-ever wildfire season with twenty-nine fires currently burning across the state including the largest fire in state history. Over a million acres have burned, mostly east of the mountains, three firefighters have lost their lives and many homes and businesses have burned. We are getting some cooler weather and rain now but very high winds yesterday knocked out power across western Washington and hampered the efforts to fight some of the fires. This photo was taken last summer near Saskatchewan Crossing in Alberta, and is the closest I've ever been to a wildfire. We had seen and smelled the smoke before we turned down Highway 11 towards Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer. At first we saw only burnt-over areas with occasional burst of flame at quite a distance from the road and on the other side of the river, but as we went further the smoke became heavier and we saw helicopters dipping huge buckets in the river to dump on the fire. We stopped to photograph the helicopters when suddenly the wind kicked up and the fire was in the trees near the road. We could feel the heat and hear the roar of the flames and decided we had better get out of there. As we drove away the they were setting up barricades to close the road. At that point a couple of motorcyclists who had passed us and disappeared into the smoke came hurrying back. Well beyond the danger zone we stopped again and took pictures of the smoke which was rising high into the atmosphere and blotting out the view to the east. We learned later that the fire, started by lightning, was called the Spreading Creek Fire and burned about 17,000 acres, quite small fire compared to the largest burning now in Washington which has destroyed over 300,000 acres. The photo was taken by my wife and shows the fires burning in the trees along the road just before we drove away and before the fire service people closed the road.