Photo Journalism

 

Photo: Christopher Sun

Alaska Highway News (Front page)

Published: May 28, 2007

Wonowon, B.C.

A fire on May 25, 2007 completely burned down a convenience store, hotel, gas station and restaurant. The entire town was evacuated due to the four propane tanks located directly behind the building and the Alaska Highway was closed for almost five hours to let the fire burn out.

Behind the picture: The RCMP wouldn't let anyone within five kilometres of the town because one of the propane tanks was leaking and there was concern that it would ignite, blowing up the area. I was able to hitch a ride with a kid on his ATV (he was going in and out of the area by going down the embankment into the ditch) and snuck in to get this picture. It wasn't until I was climbing on the propane tanks, looking for a leak to take a picture of, when common sense hit me: "If these tanks blow up, my body will never be found." The things I do to get a story/picture...