The document summarizes a 2003 wildfire in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta, Canada. The fire grew to a 6-km wide wall of flames up to 50 m high, with the energy equivalent of an atomic bomb every 30 minutes. A resident watched the fire approach her home in Hillcrest before evacuating. The Crowsnest fire burned over 20,000 hectares of forest, negatively impacting the timber industry and tourism but providing burnt wood for salvage. While burned areas can increase ecological diversity, they initially appear devoid of life as the fire removes large stands of timber.

1. Crowsnest Fires