Life returning to normal in Kamloops
Acting mayor says city ‘really proud’ of response in housing B.C. residents fleeing wildfires
KAMLOOPS — Looking around the deserted plaza in front of the Sandman Centre arena in Kamloops Monday, it’s hard to believe that last month it was crammed with thousands of people who were looking for help after being forced from their homes by wildfires.
“It was crazy,” Kamloops acting mayor Arjun Singh said of the scene at the arena, which has served as an evacuee reception centre for the past six weeks. “The speed and scale of what happened took everybody a bit by surprise.”
Although there are more than 130 wildfires still burning across B.C., only 2,580 people remain evacuated from their homes, down from a high of about 45,000 in July. That means evacuation centres like the one in Kamloops are being scaled back.
Premier John Horgan stopped at the provincial regional emergency operation centre in Kamloops Monday morning during his tour of fire-affected areas to meet and thank people for the work they’ve done.
Later, as he surveyed wildfire damage on the Ashcroft reserve, he commented on the response to evacuees in Kamloops.
“My sense is, as with most Canadians in times of crisis, people opened their homes, they opened their hearts to people that were dislocated and that was done with a spirit of co-operation that’s heartwarming as a Canadian and that’s not surprising,” Horgan said.
Singh agreed, saying he was pleased to see a well-organized, innovative response and the generosity was almost overwhelming.
“It was a really proud time for our community. People in the main just really stepped up. It was an incredible overall effort,” he said.
Kamloops set up its first evacuee reception centre at the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre July 7. Less than a week later, it moved to Thompson Rivers University and then the Sandman Centre, where it remains.
Debbie Sell, emergency operations centre information officer for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, said Kamloops experienced three waves of evacuees.
The first was in early July, when the village of Cache Creek was evacuated. The flood of people prompted Kamloops to open the evacuee reception centre at the McArthur Island Sports and Events Centre. Two days later, due to high demand, it moved to Thompson Rivers University.
The second wave happened when Williams Lake was evacuated July 15. Although the plan had been for residents to evacuate to Prince George, roads were closed heading north and a large number of evacuees ended up in Kamloops. That’s when the arena became the reception centre.
“When you would go down to the Sandman Centre, it was exceptionally busy,” said Sell. “They had to have a numbering system to register people.”
On the busiest day, 1,400 numbers were handed out — one per family unit. The more than 500 cots in shared lodging at the arena were full at one point. People were also put up at the university and in hotels, while a large number found other accommodations.
“A lot of people when they’re evacuated don’t go to group lodging, they stay with friends and family,” said Sell. “Even at the height of all the evacuation, the majority of people would go and stay with people that they know.”
The third, smaller wave of evacuees came from Clinton and the surrounding area in late July as Williams Lake evacuees were allowed to return home.
Since the evacuation order for Clinton was rescinded two weeks ago, it’s been relatively quiet.
There hasn’t been anyone at the university “for quite some time,” Sell said, and no one is staying on the cots set up at the Sandman Centre. The centre has reduced its hours, opening for only two hours per day on three days between Tuesday and Sept. 5.
Sell said about 10 people re-registered Sunday and they’re expecting to see 270 people re-register in the next week. There are 45 evacuees still receiving emergency social services in Kamloops, which means they are being provided with food and lodging. Others have made their own arrangements.
As well as the evacuations went, Singh said it’s now time to review the response and see what can be learned from this summer while remaining ready for what could still come.
“I think that we’re not totally out of the woods yet in terms of having fire season upon us,” Singh said. “So I don’t think we want to get lulled into a false sense of comfort because these things can happen on a dime like we saw in July.”
According to B.C. Wildfire Service chief information officer Kevin Skrepnek, this fire season has been “unprecedented” in many ways and the length will depend on the weather, which is expected to remain hot and dry for the next few days.
“If that trend is going to continue, we have to brace ourselves for it to stretch into the fall,” Skrepnek said.
There are 138 fires burning in the province. Of note are the Chilcotin Plateau fire (4,930 square kilometres), Hanceville-Riske Creek fire (2,320 square km and 30 per cent contained), Elephant Hill fire (1,751 square km and 50 per cent contained) and the Philpott Road fire 20 kilometres east of Kelowna (4.65 square km and 20 per cent contained). Since April 1, firefighters have battled 1,127 fires that have burned 10,161 square km.