Evacuees stunned by devastation from fire
KAMLOOPS — Residents of a village in British Columbia’s southern interior are anxious to see what is left of their homes after one of the hundreds of wildfires raging across the region tore through their community, engulfing dozens of properties and forcing people to flee with almost no notice.
Mark Sutherland of the Ashcroft Indian Reserve west of Kamloops said Sunday he had only seconds to escape with his girlfriend and two young kids before flames overtook his home.
“By the time we got everyone into the cars and we were getting out of the reserve, coming around the bend, (the fire) was already past the house. The next few houses were on fire,” said Sutherland, who used to work on a forestry firefighting crew.
“It was so fast. Everything was happening so fast.”
There is no end in sight as provincial officials expect more gusty winds and hot, dry conditions to fan the flames of the more than 220 fires that have destroyed an area covering at least 230 square kilometres.
Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, said the number of people evacuated is likely to rise from the latest estimate of 7,000.
“The situation around evacuation alerts and orders could be quite fluid,” said Skrepnek. “I would anticipate there would be expansions over the next few days.”
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Ottawa has agreed to federal assistance.
Three Canadian Armed Forces Griffon helicopters were expected to arrive in Kelowna last night and some larger fixed-wing aircraft are to arrive over the next few days, said Chris Duffy, executive director of Emergency Management B.C.
Duffy said the aircraft would be on standby and ready to help wherever they were needed, but that they would not be assisting with fire suppression at this time.
Highway closures trapped Cache Creek resident Jacquie McMahon and her husband overnight Friday on the north side of Lac La Hache, near the 100 Mile House wildfire.
“The orange glow on both sides of us was so surreal and it was growing, growing, growing,” said McMahon, whose home was spared in the fire.
“I just lost my mom (in March), and mom always told us: ‘Never go anywhere without everything you need.’”
She added, wiping away tears. “So we had everything we needed. And thank goodness.”
B.C. has seen 552 fires to date in 2017, about half of which broke out over the past few days.
Skrepnek said the province had spent $46 million fighting wildfires this year as of end-of-day Friday.