A volunteer rescue service based on Kootenay Lake was called out to save four hikers on Macbeth Icefield early Sunday morning.
The hikers had intended to camp on the icefield but became alarmed when the wind changed and the nearby Argenta Creek wildfire started raining embers on their tent.
Kaslo Search and Rescue’s Mark Jennings-Bates says they received the call around 6 a.m., just as the team was wrapping up a very long shift.
He says they were able to deploy a helicopter, which they were lucky to find, explaining that all of their other helicopters were being used for fighting wildfires.
“The actual flight in was really difficult,” Jennings-Bates told CityNews.
“It was challenging for the pilot, so the main route we would ordinarily take, he was not able to transit just because of the thick smoke from valley bottoms to mountain tops.”
The team was successful in helicoptering the group off the glacier with no injuries.
He says the hikers were well prepared with technology that allowed them to send an S.O.S. alert with accurate coordinates.
Kaslo Search and Rescue has had a busy week, posting on social media that they have handled more than 15 calls in the last week.
The Argenta Creek wildfire is over 14,000 hectares in size and is listed as out-of-control.