With thousands forced from their homes due to fires around Okanagan Lake in British Columbia, the Salvation Army in Vernon has become a place for people to gather as they figure out what’s next.
Charity spokesman Ron Cartmell says since it opened Friday to offer emergency support services, local businesses have stopped by with help ranging from pallets of bottled water to hamburgers and coffee.
Get daily National news
He says the community is doing what it can to ease some of the pain and the trauma evacuees are experiencing.
Cartmell says he has spoken to people who are on their third wildfire evacuation from wildfires in the last seven years.
-
![]()
Passengers scrambling to rebook flights as WestJet flight attendant strike kicks off -
![]()
WestJet, union representing flight attendants reach tentative agreement ending work stoppage -
![]()
Flight attendants hit the picket line after CUPE, WestJet fail reach a new contract -
![]()
Russia-Ukraine war: Massive strikes exchanged as U.S. makes effort to renew negotiations
Winds, as high as 115 kilometres an hour in some spots, caused fires to spread rapidly over the weekend across a region dealing with a prolonged drought.
As of late Monday, there were about 120 fires burning across B.C., with about 50 classified as out of control.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.