The economy benefits from through traffic; many brand-name hotels and restaurants have opened in the past few decades. The Canadian Pacific Railway also runs through Salmon Arm. No passenger service is available, though the Rocky Mountaineer trains pass through on occasion. Salmon Arm Airport mainly serves general aviation aircraft, though scheduled service to Vancouver and Calgary was available by Northern Hawk Aviation until it ceased operations. Salmon Arm has a minor, infrequent bus service to nearby suburbs, using small commuter minibuses, as well as handyDart service for the disabled. In 1998, an area of 13,500 acres (about 55 km2 or 5500 hectares) immediately southwest of Salmon Arm was burnt to the extent of deforestation by a wildfire started by lightning. The fire came down from the Fly Hills in the west and embers carried by the wind jumped the valley and ignited Mount Ida. Flames raced down both sides of the valley, threatening many homes. An emergency evacuation was executed as the fire hotfooted it closer. Remarkably, just as the fire reached the valley floor, a sudden change of wind direction forced the fire back on itself, extinguishing it. The fire came so close that trees in many backyards were singed and barn paint was peeled. The media reported "20 homes and 15 barns" were destroyed during the firestorm in the Silver Creek area to the south of Salmon Arm, which also produced Canada's largest civil evacuation up to that date when the "5,000-hectare forest fire that forced the removal of 7,000 residents of Salmon Arm was being blown toward the town."