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The year 2003 will be remembered in B.C. as the worst season of forest fires to ravage the province ever in history. Over 700 separate conflagrations erupted as high winds and a lack of rain contributed to the destruction of nearly 2,500 square kilometers (618,000 acres) of forest across B.C. Three pilots lost their lives fighting the inferno; 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes in Kelowna, Barriere, Cranbrook, Spuzzum, and Naramata; and 250 homes were consumed by the blazes. The financial cost of fighting the fire has reached over $400 million.
In August 2003, firefighters from Ladysmith Fire Rescue joined 3,300 of their brethren in Kelowna and Cranbrook, waging war against a roaring wall of flame that at times reached over 350 feet high and traveled at speeds of 270 feet a minute - that's 4.5 feet, every second. Throughout the ordeal, 2,000 members of the Canadian Forces assisted the firefighters, some of whom came from Alberta, the Yukon, and as far away as New Brunswick to battle the fires.
