July 6, 1938
It’s been a hot and dry summer— marked by the longest drought in 64 years. Yesterday (Tuesday, July 5) at 4:20pm “Jock McLeod and David Crawley noticed a curl of dark smoke coming from a pile of this seasons’ cold-decked logs about 300 feet away from the track.”
“We were between Boot Lake and Gosling Lake. There was a telephone two miles away and I started to run for it, through the slash. On the way I met Frank Coy, a warden, and warned him. Together we gave a general warning.”
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She and J. are as of yet unaware of this momentous event, but when they eventually travel to Victoria for summer holidays they will smell the smoke.
[Sidenote: Thanks to John Parminter.
Source of Text: John Parminter’s 1994 paper: Darkness at Noon – The Bloedel Fire of 1938 , Research Branch B.C. Forest Service Victoria, and T.W. Paterson http://twpaterson.com/vancouver-islands-great-fire-of-august-1938. Image from VPL altered (another forest fire)]