...continued from Fire Season 2003: Part One.
Shortly after our arrival in Kelowna the fire decided to behave itself and move in a more favorable direction, away from town. At night the contrasting ridge line of the mountains backlit by acres of fire made for some overwhelming memories. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me to capture any of the events, but there were plenty of people who did. These can be found pretty much anywhere on the internet in a matter of moments. Type in “Kelowna Wildfires” and hit “images” on your favourite browser. It was truly shocking. Seeing the huge pile of orange light glowing across the sky, my first thought was extreme heat. It must be ridiculously hot on the front line! But that is exactly where I wanted to be. Occasionally spouts of fire would flare skyward as it raced up to the crown of a newly acquired tree. As far as you could see on the horizon, it was burning, and I really wanted to get on to the front line. Shovel, axe, backpack, sturdy boots. Lots of drinking water. The stuff my dreams are made of! My mind raced with the thought of standing on the line, fighting fire, working with a team of firefighters to fight the good fight. The smell of smoke thick in the air. Tired and bleeding at the end of the day.
