Doug MacLeod

Doug MacLeod could see the danger bearing down on him. In early August, the forestry contractor was marking trails for heavy equipment to plow fire breaks on the mountainside above Faulder, a community near Summerland in British Columbia’s southern Okanagan valley. He had tied only a single piece of flagging tape when he saw the Bald Range wildfire roaring through the forests toward him. …He abandoned flagging and started pounding on residents’ doors, urging them to flee. He watched as fire ripped across the valley and cut off Fish Lake Road, the only viable route out of the area. Knowing he and dozens of residents were now trapped, Mr. MacLeod leaned on his training and decades of wildfire experience to give those around him the best possible chance to survive. The fire’s behaviour was unlike anything Mr. MacLeod had ever seen. …But the scale of the danger is largely invisible to most Canadians until it’s too late. [A Globe and Mail subscription is required for full access]