2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire

On August 16, 2003, at about 4 a.m., a wildfire was started by a lightning strike near Rattlesnake Island in Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. The wildfire was fuelled by a constant wind and the driest summer on record up to that time.[2] Within a few days it had grown into a true firestorm.

2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire
Location	Okanagan Mountain Park
Statistics
Date(s)	August 16, 2003 (2003-08-16)
Burned area	25,912 hectares (64,030 acres)[1]
Cause	lightning strike
Land use	Parkland, Rural
Buildings destroyed	239
Non-fatal injuries	water bomber crash

Fire damage visible in background of Rattlesnake Island

The fire grew northward and eastward, initially threatening a small number of lakeshore homes, but quickly became an interface zone fire and forced the evacuation of 27,000 residents and consumed 239 homes. The final size of the firestorm was over 250 square kilometers (25,912 hectares (64,030 acres)).[1] Most of the trees in Okanagan Mountain Park were burned, and the park was closed.

60 fire departments, 1,400 armed forces troops and 1,000 forest fire fighters took part in controlling the fire, but were largely incapable of stopping the disaster.

There were also at least three private Canadair CL-215s, four Government of Alberta owned Canadair CL-215s, four private Lockheed L188 Electra air tankers and at least one Martin Mars air tanker attempting to put out the fire.

Amateur radio operators helped pass emergency traffic during this emergency. That cost was estimated at CAD $33.8 million.[1]

Castanet News released an article to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the fire:[3]

It was 14 years ago today that a lightning strike in the early morning hours of Aug. 16, just outside the southern boundaries of the city, across the lake from Peachland, sparked what would become, at the time, the largest post-war mass evacuation Canada had seen. It also led to the destruction of 239 homes in the Upper Mission, most of those in the Kettle Valley and Crawford Estates areas. Twelve wooden and two metal trestles in historic Myra Canyon were also damaged or destroyed. More than 33,000 people were evacuated; 4,000 of those were sent packing a second time as fires raged around them. At one point, it seemed people within the city were either out of their home, or hosting someone who was. The army was sent in to help battle the fires, setting up a makeshift camp on the Apple Bowl and Parkinson Rec Centre fields. At the height of the blaze, which burned through 26,500 hectares, firefighters on the front lines estimated the wall of flame to be up to 400 metres high. It was classified as a Rank 6 firestorm. On Sept. 12, all remaining evacuation alerts were lifted, and eight days later, the Ministry of Forests announced the fire was 100 per cent contained.

— Wayne Moore, Castanet.net