2021 Becker Lake Wildfire, Vernon BC


As extreme drought conditions continue throughout the province of British Columbia, residents in the Okanagan grow more concerned about new wildfires every day. After a grass fire at a slope above Kalamalka Lake on the previous day and the following night, smoke was spotted a few miles west of Becker Lake. High winds ignited a spot fire to to a blaze of several hectares. Air tankers and helicopters from Kamloops and Vernon fought the wildfire for most of the day. All photos and the short video were taken free-handed with Panasonic’s Lumix DMC FZ300 at maximum focal length of 600 mm.

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▲ Wildfire smoke seen billowing above Vernon
Camera: Lumix DMC FZ300
Aperture: f/8 > Shutter: 1/320
▲ Strong winds whip the fire north
Camera: Lumix DMC FZ300
Aperture: f/8 > Shutter: 1/320
▲ Conair aerial tanker 566 circling above
Camera: Lumix DMC FZ300
Aperture: f/8 > Shutter: 1/320
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▲ A Kaman K-MAX helicopter in bucketing
Camera: Lumix DMC FZ300
Aperture: f/3.2 > Shutter: 1/1300
Conair air tanker 566 dropping retardant
Camera: Lumix DMC FZ300
Aperture: f/8 > Shutter: 1/320
▲ A Kaman K-MAX helicopter in action
Camera: Lumix DMC FZ300
Aperture: f/3.2 > Shutter: 1/1300

On Saturday afternoon (2021-07-10), the BC Wildfire Service had 26 personnel on scene fighting the Becker Lake wildfire, alongside with 4 helicopters and air tanker support. At the time of this report, the fire was still classified as out of control and it encompassed a size of approximately 10 hectares.