Vancouver Sun – Clare Clancy – August 9, 2018

“I’ve been flying for 20 years and I see smoke every summer, but nothing quite as defined,” said Matt Melnyk, who snapped the pictures Wednesday, 8 August, during an hour-long flight from Calgary to Vancouver.

Melnyk, a Calgary co-pilot with WestJet, said there were no clouds in the sky at 40,000 feet, just east of Kelowna.

“I could see the mountains and that huge line of smoke,” said the former Edmontonian in a Thursday interview. “The specific weather that was occurring at that moment made it so visible, and so alarming and crisp.

“I couldn’t believe it.”