Salmon Arm Passover by Sister Shirley Burnham

In August of 1998 the Vernon Stake had a miracle I call the Salmon Arm Passover. Extreme hot weather and no rain caused the Vernon Stake to become a tinderbox.  Fires broke out in Fintry, Kelowna, Vernon, Salmon Arm, and Lillooet. The most serious fire was the one in Salmon Arm.

I had called all the ward Relief Society Presidents to inquire about the ward members and to see if there were children at home with their parents away. One such family was discovered. The Salmon Arm President was not at home but her counselor, Sister Lahoda told me things were hazarest in their area. The Salmon Arm Hospital had been evacuated. She said," The fire jumped the valley and started burning along Mt.Ida. It took only ten minutes for the fire to reach the top and start down toward us. We could hear the fire roaring- an eerie sound. We could feel the heat and the smoke was so bad we had problems breathing. A police officer told us we had to leave. Most families affected in this evacuation moved in with or camped in the yards of Salmon Arm family or friends.

New fires were starting so quickly that one group of municipal firefighters  was paralyzed with fear and indecision not knowing where to start to work.They responded to the leadership of Terry Smith, a councilor in the Vernon Stake Presidency who was a Professional Forester, former firefighter and a resident of Salmon Arm. They were able to stop the Fly Hills fire within yards of the subdivision. President Smith went on to give leadership to another crew while maintaining cellular phone contact with Bishop Dow concerning the needs of ward members in the fire zone and assisting the evacuation of some of his employees, and organizing preparations with his own family. Taxed beyond his natural ability, President Smith acknowledged divine help.

Thursday August 5th, I attended our Stake Welfare Committee meeting and suggested a stake wide fast. President Bateman asked if I thought Sunday would be soon enough. I felt the fast should be the very next day. The High Council discussed the issue briefly and then were excused to phone the Bishops over the wards they were responsible for and invite the wards to fast.  When the men returned some reported asking for the fast to occur the next day - Friday and others had asked for the fast to occur on Sunday.

In 2018 I attended a twenty year review of the Salmon Arm fire presented by Jake Jacobson and Eddy Jackowski who were leaders in that fire fight. They reported the Salmon Arm fire covered 6300 hectares. 8000 people were evacuated, only 6-8 homes were lost but 40 outbuildings were burned. The devastation was immense but no lives were lost.The cause was a lightning strike observed by Eddy Jackowski. The fire blew 2 kilometers along Mt. Ida in 20 minutes. Then a wind burst on Friday stopped the fire going further along Mt. Ida  and a cold front blew all the smoke away from the town.

 The Friday fast had been effective but the fire was still alive. The Community Centres in Kamloops and Vernon prepared to receive  evacuees from the fire. The Salmon Arm  Hospital had been evacuated earlier. Winds were predicted to blow the fire right through the town at 9 on Monday morning. The Premier had declared a state of emergency and would order an evacuation the moment the winds began to blow.

I went to the Relief Society meeting in Salmon Arm on Sunday. The Bishop announced that the members living in the evacuated areas were safe and none of their homes had been lost.

Then he told the members to go home after the meetings and prepare to evacuate because notice had come that high winds  were expected to blow the fire right through the town. I attended the Relief Society meeting and at the close of the meeting we knelt and prayed for the Lord to temper the weather for the safety of the people. Then I flew out to Vancouver for a meeting and was delighted to read the headlines of the Province, the Monday morning newspaper: "Predicted Winds Did Not Occur."

A couple of weeks later I attended a Church welfare meeting in Vancouver where Brother Wolsey, the Fire Chief in Delta spoke. I told him how glad I was that the winds did not come to Salmon Arm. He said, "They did." I replied," The newspaper says they did not" He told me to call Roy Benson of Kamloops  who was the fire boss at the time. 

I called Mr. Benson and he told me he was in a helicopter at the time and saw the winds lift and arch over Salmon Arm town from Mt. Ida and touch down in the Deep Creek drainage area 10 kilometers southeast. He said it looked like a swath of trees where the wind dropped down.

The men at the 20 year event said" Predicted winds did not come. We were all waiting for the end to come. It didn't happen!" Then they drew an arc  on the blackboard  to demonstrate how the wind acted as it arched over the town.

The Vernon Stake saints and many nonmembers petitioned the Lord in prayer and fasting to intervene. He did. We had a modern Passover. We who experienced this event have great cause to believe- " Wherefore be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you and will stand by you." ( D&C 68:4)