Family flees Okanagan wildfire
Ex-Calgarians were enjoying vacation
For the McClymont family, it was just another day at their Okanagan beach until things got too hot for comfort.
The family of four and their neighbours were enjoying the vacation enclave of Ponderosa Point south of Penticton on Tuesday afternoon when they spotted ominous plumes of smoke creeping in their direction, Gordon McClymont said.
“The fire was quite close to the road and to the houses,” said McClymont, whose family once called Calgary home and now hail from Scotland. “We literally left with the clothes we were wearing all day and the kids were in their beach wear.”
They were 100 metres from their cabins when they first noticed the blaze but by the time they fled, the flames “were right behind the houses,” he said.
“It wasn’t a place to hang around and see what happens.”
His family and two others exited past fire crews converging on the blaze at the community of Kaleden, making their way to nearby Penticton where they were given supplies and a hotel room.
They watched the progress of the fire fight — which included water bombers — from the city’s Skaha Lake beach.
“They wouldn’t let anyone near, and quite rightly so,” McClymont said.
On Tuesday, 30 homes in the area were evacuated while utility crews cut power to dozens more.
So far, at least two buildings have been destroyed by the blaze.
Of 30 wildfires in the province, the one at Kaleden was the only blaze threatening buildings.
McClymont said his family hopes to soon be allowed to return to their cabin but added they’re taking the experience in stride.
“It’s a wee hiccup — the main thing is that everyone’s safe,” he said.
Forestry officials in Alberta say they’re closely monitoring conditions amid a protracted heat wave and have begun issuing fire advisories.
In Alberta on Wednesday, 11 wildfires were burning, none of them out of control.