Farmers fight wildfire near Fort St. John
'The job had to be done. We done the best we could'
Hay farmer Cliff Bennett, 67, was battling flames at the front lines of one of BC's most threatening wildfires.
"It was pretty wild in spots," said Bennett, who fought the Baldonnel fire alongside his son, his farm neighbours and firefighters from Fort St John and Taylor.
They worked through the night into Tuesday morning, as the wildfire swept through bush and dry farmland south of Fort St. John. Homes and farms were evacuated, local roads shut down.
In the smoke and the darkness, Bennett and others tried to push back the fire.
"It's a good thing it was a full moon. The wind was really blowing and the fires would glow, said Bennett.
"At one time, I had 14 people pulling fire hose. I had a tractor, with a water tank on the back. There were quite a few dead old trees ... burning 20 or 30 feet up in the air. When they burned, they'd come crashing down. We had to be watching all the time. No one got hurt. Everyone looked after each other."
Bennett says the group also looked out for their neighbours — saving a home and farm.
"Nope, I wasn't scared. The job had to be done. We done the best we could."