Jack Smith woke up to the blast of a propane tank.
By the time he stepped out the front door of his Wofford Heights home, he could see the two houses next door burning, black smoke pluming into the air and ashes raining overhead.
Then, within seconds, he felt the rumble of an air tanker buzz his home, dusting pink flame retardant over his neighborhood.
“If these guys weren’t on it, my house would have been gone,” Smith said Monday afternoon while sipping a Miller High Life at Harry’s Bar, a Wofford Heights watering hole just down the hill from where the Calgary Fire began burning Saturday evening, charring nine homes and 50 acres.
Those living in the Kern River Valley are no strangers to fire. Hillsides burn frequently, and ever since last summer, when the Erskine Fire ripped through more than 47,000 acres and scorched hundreds of homes, residents have been on heightened alert.