Residents decide to dig in, despite an evacuation order
Some residents south of Burns Lake who were ordered to evacuate because of aggressive wildfires continue to dig in to protect their homes and properties, but may not be able to receive desperately needed fuel and supplies.
On Monday, a fuel truck organized by the Cheslatta Carrier Nation was prevented from getting on a B.C.-government run ferry across Francois Lake, the only way into the so-called south side, where several fires have burned hundreds of square kilometres of tinder-dry forest.
“They don’t want supplies or fuel to go in. It encourages people to want to stay and fight to the end,” south side resident Mike Robertson, a policy director for the Cheslatta Carrier Nation, said by phone from Burns Lake.
About 230 B.C. Wildfire Service firefighters are fighting three major blazes in the area, which together have burned more than 1,100 square kilometres. The fuel for the residents is needed to run machinery, including bulldozers, to build fireguards. The guards are built by removing fuel for the fire by scraping away vegetation or cutting trees and brush, sometimes in strips kilometres in length.
On Tuesday, Robertson and Angelika Posselt were helping to organize another attempted run of fuel and supplies to the south side, about 40 kilometres south of Burns Lake.
The pair said Tuesday afternoon they had no idea if they would be able to get through.
Posselt, who with her husband owns Tahtsa Timber, a logging and forestry company, said their only chance to deliver the needed fuel and supplies may be if Premier John Horgan intervenes.
On Monday, a B.C. Wildfire Service incident commander delivered a dire warning to remaining residents of the south side during a meeting in the community of Grassy Plains: they should leave now because of high winds forecast for the next two to three days.
Robertson, who attended the meeting, said they were told if the fire blows up there would be nothing left except rocks and water.
They were told, however, if they do stay, not to flee in the face of the fire. The best defence then is to fight the fire, said Robertson.
The estimated 200 south-siders (of a population of about 1,200) who have stayed behind are not likely to leave. They are extremely independent and have experience fighting fires as ranchers and loggers, he said.
Added Posselt: “It’s not just their homes, it’s their livelihoods.”
B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Erin Catherall said the province agreed residents refusing to leave should be provided “critical resources” that include medicine and food. The service has also incorporated some south-side residents into their firefighting efforts, so they will be supplied with fuel for heavy equipment as part of that effort, said Catherall.
Added Catherall: “We can’t emphasize enough that people should leave given the real risks that exist.”