It's gonna take forever to get there in the snow.

That was the first from my car heard about the event.

Aside from the basics, place, fire type, potential casualty estimate.

If for those interested the answers were Silver Stream Forest of R7.

Unknown and unknown.

We're in the middle of all, once in a century snowstorm.

Those once in a century snowstorms that seem to come every five years now.

Doesn't mean much to some, but for those of us who have to work and drive in them to save lives, it matters.

That night, it mattered.

Our station is the only one in the area.

Undribe ideal conditions, the rural route 7 connection to the forest, would be a 35 minute drive.

We'd be lucky if we got there in 90.

An hour into the drive we saw the aurora.

Despite the howling wind blowing heaps of snow through the air, I guess the visibility was less than 10 feet.

The aurora was clear.

Electrical, John positive.

Not sure how that work, someone answered.

Sounded like Lloyd.

No, I agree.

No, John agreed.

Me neither.

I looked out the side window toward the direction of the light show.

...