I smell smoke!

Well folks, it's that time, isn't it? Especially with the heat waves and everything dried up and going brown ... smoke smell is building in the air ... a breeze/wind happening is blowing the smell in through the windows. ... and no wonder I smell smoke, I just read "this" a few minutes ago ... and today is past Thursday!(story mentions Thursday )

Smoke In The Air The Drive FM -If you're noticing a lot of smoke in the Cranbrook / Kimberley area, it's because of a fire south of the border. Fire Information Officer Corwin Odland says there's a large fire in Washington state. There are three small fires in the East Kootenay: the Cherry Lake fire, 36 km south-east of Cranbrook, crews should have that fired contained by Thursday evening, and two new fires: one, 12 km north of Cranbrook, and one fire 13km east of Cranbrook. All are well under a hectare and in the back-country.

Hmmmmm ... getting surrounded here, are we? The good news is that they're so tiny. Must be the states side fire I smell?

I'm not sure exactly how many fires are burning in BC currently, or the current situation with the ones nearby, but damn, they're close. BC had an early start with fires this year ... and a lot of them too, way more than last year, by this time.

Lets hope the firefighters are able to contain and douse 'em all.

Karmen.

Hi.

Remember all the bad BIG fires in BC in 2003? Looks like the area around Barriere and Kamloops is fired up again. I hope they can get things under control ... and I sure hope it's not as windy around there as it is around here today. Don't need any winds fanning these fires!!! On a personal level, my eldest daughters inlaws live in and aorund Barriere ... in 2003 they got evacuated but luckily didn't lose any of their homes.

It's so scarey how quickly these fires can grow and spread

Karmen.

Forest fire prompts evacuation alert in B.C. Interior
Last Updated Sun, 30 Jul 2006 12:43:49 EDT
CBC News
Hot, dry weather is blamed for a new forest fire that is sweeping across mountain slopes in the British Columbia Interior, prompting officials to issue an evacuation alert.

The blaze - about 30 kilometres east of Barriere and 66 kilometres north of Kamloops - was reported by staff at the Johnson Lake Resort on Friday evening. Since then, it has grown to cover 100 hectares.

By Sunday, the blaze was just three kilometres from several cabins at the fishing resort.

Emergency officials have put residents in the area on evacuation alert as firefighters and water bombers continue to fight the fire.

Fire information officer Jean Rucker said crews are aggressively fighting the blaze because of its proximity to houses and recreational properties.

"Air tankers are actively working the area right now as well as helicopters that are bucketing," said Rucker.

There were nearly 400 new wildfires in the province over the last week, partially because of the extreme, hot weather earlier in the week.

Forecasters said there was a chance of thunderstorms in the Interior on Sunday.

But CBC meteorologist Nick Czernkovich said "that's a double-edge sword" because storms could bring lightning strikes, which are blamed for about half of all forest fires in the province.

... some interesting information and facts about fires and firefighting:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/fo...restfires.html