Conair’s Air Tractor 802 Fire Boss planes in action at 108 Mile, July 6.Smoke roils up northwest of Little Fort, July 7.Fire threatens the Bonaparte First Nation, July 7.Bomber flies toward Williams Lake, July 7.Lee Todd reconnoitres over Riske Creek, July 7.This chopper was a sitting duck when an inferno hit the tarmac at Williams Lake Airport on July 7.The Elephant Hill fire melted this trailer into a Daliesque sculpture.Smoke obscures the sunrise at Sheridan Lake, July 8.A couple of signs are all that remain of the historic café and gas station at Lee’s corner.Roland and Udette Class stand in front of skeletal trunks near Hanceville.Chilcotin Towing became an icon of destruction on Highway 20 in Riske Creek.Trees are wreathed in smoke near Hanceville.Fire creates an orange panorama behind the storied Becher Ranch in Riske Creek on July 15.Fire retardant is deployed near 16 Mile House on July 13. Altogether, 12 million litres were used across BC in 2017.A lurid sky looms over the gas station at 70 Mile House, July 14.Fill ’er up! Canadian Forces roll into 70 Mile House, August 7.Firefighters build fireguards at Slater Mountain on July 17 to protect Williams Lake.An early morning safety meeting convenes on Slater Mountain, July 22.Fire leaping across Highway 97 on August 1 catches Delta firefighters off guard.A Mexican CONAFOR firefighter poses with George Keener’s donkey on Slater Mountain, August 6.Trees candle after firefighters light a prescribed burn on Slater Mountain, August 4th.Conair’s Fire Boss 88 lobs water on the Lamb Creek fire, south of Cranbrook, August 10.Firefighters observe an imposing blaze west of Quesnel, near Nazko, August 12.Quebec bombers skim across Green Lake, August 16.Conair’s Fire Boss 73 and 87 work on dousing the Lamb Creek fire, August 29.Dark smoke wreathes Green Lake on August 30.The wind shifts on September 2, sending the Elephant Hill fire south.One year after the fire went through, trees east of Riske Creek are a testament to what happened.Paradise regained: fireweed flourishes the summer after fires created this clearing beside Sheridan West Forest Road.
