NO BREAK IN SIGHT FOR B.C.
HUNDREDS OF WILDFIRES CONTINUE TO RAGE, FORCING MORE THAN 14,000 TO FLEE
Linda Jorgensen was reduced to tears Sunday when one of her sons sent a photograph of her 1,650-square-foot, two-storey home in 150 Mile House. Two days after a fire-evacuation order was issued for the small Cariboo Region community in B.C.’s Interior, the home was still untouched, even as other houses and structures had burned to the ground.
“I started crying because it was standing,” Jorgensen, a realtor, said Monday. Others did not fare as well. “There are structures down, for sure, at least 12, including homes and mobile homes. The fire would come right up to a house and go around it. Very strange to see. You’ll hear a lot of those stories.”
More than 200 intense wildfires were raging across British Columbia on Monday — 29 broke out on Sunday alone — forcing more than 14,000 people to leave their homes and scorching about 400 square kilometres of land.
The largest blaze, covering more than 60 square kilometres, was burning near Ashcroft, an Interior community about 90 kilometres from Kamloops.
Cache Creek Mayor John Ranta said the fire between Ashcroft and Cache Creek has destroyed dozens of buildings, including at least five houses, 30 trailer park homes and two hangars at a regional airport.
With about 1,000 B.C. firefighters battling the blazes, help has begun to pour in from other provinces and the federal government, in the form of about 300 firefighters and support staff from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick who started to arrive Monday.
But weather conditions are hampering firefighting efforts. Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer for the BC Wildfire Service, said gusty winds and hot, dry conditions are expected to continue for days. Some lightning was anticipated, bringing rain but also the potential to ignite new fires.
“Unfortunately, in terms of the weather forecast, we’re not really seeing any reprieve in the immediate future,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he spoke with Premier Christy Clark as well as premierdesignate John Horgan on Sunday night and the Canadian Armed Forces have sent aircraft and personnel to support the emergency response.
Residents of Fort McMurray, Alta., who had to flee a massive wildfire last year, have also sprung into action by collecting donations of supplies, driving them to B.C. and offering support and advice on social media.
Christopher Seguin, vicepresident of advancement at Thompson Rivers University, said terrified evacuees arrived at a Kamloops reception centre with nothing, having “lost everything and having lost it quickly.”
He said four tonnes of supplies arrived from Fort McMurray including wrapped and sealed water, Gatorade and baby supplies. Volunteers were making sure the Kamloops food bank receives and distributes them.
Seguin expressed his gratitude to the residents of Fort McMurray.
“Thank you for giving back and thank you for going to an extraordinary effort to making sure we get exactly what we need at exactly the right time,” he said.
Al Richmond, chairman of the Cariboo Regional District, said the last evacuees from 100 Mile House left around 2 a.m. Monday on a bus to Prince George to receive emergency assistance. Others headed to the Lower Mainland, he said.
Some nearby communities were under evacuation alert and residents were told to prepare to leave at a moment’s notice.
Bob Turner of Emergency Management BC said there were no accidents or injuries as people rushed to flee 100 Mile House. He praised the “nimble and flexible” response and ongoing co-operation between the province, Ottawa and First Nations.
“Generally, we’re still looking at a deteriorating situation,” he added. “We are looking at many weeks to come of a very challenging environment and public safety will remain the overriding priority of government.”
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said B.C. requested 3,000 cots and 3,000 blankets from federal stockpiles and they have been delivered to Prince George.
The province also asked for air support from the Canadian Armed Forces, which will be used for emergency evacuations and to move firefighters, emergency officials and equipment around the fire zone.
“It’s a relatively small number at this moment but we are in very early days here,” Goodale said in Regina.
Jorgensen said she spoke with one 100 Mile House resident who snuck back to the community Saturday and started “bawling because she stood in her yard and put out hot spots, hauling buckets of water up from the pond and said the (neighbour’s) log home in front of her burned.”
Jorgensen’s husband and sons are staying with two sets of friends in smokechoked Williams Lake, and both sons, who served as volunteer firefighters several years ago, have been enlisted to help fight the fires around 150 Mile House.
Jorgensen is separated from them due to road closures, but said she is safe, staying at the family’s recreational cabin on Quesnel Lake. “It’s very smoky here on the lake. I have a really big body of water. The plan is to get in the boat.”