A mountain’s tinderbox of anguish
LADYSMITH — An exhausted Maureen Pietrzykowski stood outside her home on Code Road Friday, looking across the valley to columns of smoke rising into the overcast sky over Mount Hayes.
A smell of smoke hung in the air. The judder of helicopter blades reverberated as the airborne attack on a wildfire continued on the steep, southeast slopes.
“What a night. I’m absolutely tired out,” said Pietrzykowski.
The fire was reported Thursday about 1 p.m. by the home-care worker looking after her 91-year-old mother.
“Last night, it was really hot. You could see the trees candling and everything,” said Pietrzykowski.
”When I went to bed, it was just over 20 hectares. When I woke up this morning, it was 70. It just breaks my heart all the agony that’s caused by fire.”
The local rumour mill was reporting that people had been riding ATVs and gathering firewood in the area, she said.
Contractor Neil Rankin was parked across the road from Pietrzykowski’s house, looking at helicopters trying to find their way through the smoke. Rankin, whose friend owns a business on the Trans-Canada Highway, said he drove from Duncan to get a sense of how close the fire is to Ladysmith.
“I’m just concerned about everyone around here, really,” he said. “It’s not good if the wind changes, and the wind can change around here. Up here in the Cowichan Valley, the wind can blow one way, the next day it’s blowing the other direction.”
On Friday, the Cowichan Valley Regional District declared a state of local emergency. A few hours later, an evacuation alert was put in place for 20 properties near the wildfire. Behind a roadblock, RCMP officers went door-to-door making sure people were aware of the alert.
Jennifer Fink showed up for the second time in two days at Takala Trails Ranch. The Chemainus high school teacher, who owns a number of horses there, said people showed up in droves Thursday after the Vancouver Island Emergency Evacuation Network put out a call for help evacuating 20 horses.
“It was really lovely,” said Fink. “Total strangers were showing up with their trailers loaded and ready to go.
“With the fire getting so close, it seemed like a good time to do it in case the fire came down the mountain.”
The scene was chaotic on Thursday, with fire trucks and pumps going and sprinklers set up, she said. Fortunately, the animals were well behaved.
“But it’s really stressful and devastating to think that this place that is so much part of our lives.
“It’s really devastating to think that this could happen in our backyard.”
Her friend, Mary Carr, who owns the property, also breeds dogs and has two litters of puppies that might have to be moved, said Fink, who was on hand to help salvage a shipment of hay that had just been delivered. Fink said she would take some hay to the people who had taken in the horses.
Cranberry Fire Chief Ron Gueulette looked concerned as he drove along Takala Road to get a closer look at the wildfire. On his way out, an hour later, he said things were looking better.
Linda Dunbar, who lives on a property between Takala and David roads, walked up to find out if she should be prepared to evacuate.
“You can’t see it from my house. That’s why I came up here. But it doesn’t look like it’s that close,” said Dunbar, admitting she was a little worried.
“I have some things on my kitchen table, like medicines. And everyone is texting me and phoning me and I don’t have an answer for them.”
Residents, notified of the alert, raced by traffic controller Della Finney to get to their properties.
“The wind is changing every half hour,” Finney said.
On Friday night, the CVRD said an evacuation order for the Fortis B.C. Mount Hayes natural gas facility remained in place. The company was working closely with the B.C. Wildfire Service and local fire departments. Only essential personnel are on site.
Fortis B.C. has contingency plans for fires, on-site fire control and response equipment in place.
“We understand that the high visibility of the fire is causing ongoing public interest and concern,” the advisory said.
• For the latest information and updates, check the CVRD’s website and/or download the Cowichan Alert Alertable app for your smartphone.
• For urgent public inquiries over the weekend, contact the Regional Emergency Operations Centre at 778-402-9596.