Wildfires have forced thousands of British Columbians from their homes and hundreds of homes have been lost to fire this season.
North Okanagan resident Rejane Simpson was at work on Saturday when one of her co-workers said there was a lot of smoke near her home.
However, a friend told her the fire was being held nearby, so she wasn’t too concerned.
On Saturday, the Bradley Creek wildfire, burning west of Vernon, grew rapidly when wind gusts reached more than 70 km/h and the firefighters, airtankers and skimmers were unable to hold the fire.
Officials estimate that 230 homes or structures may have been lost to the Bradley Creek wildfire.
“I never got an evacuation order,” Simpson told Global News.
“But after work, I hurried home. And when I got to West Side Road, the police had it blocked off. And they weren’t going to let me in.”
Simpson said she told them her house was just up the hill and her animals were there.
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So she was allowed to go in, grab her animals and as much as she could in 30 minutes and then she had to flee.
“But my God, it was just all so fast,” Simpson said, holding back tears.
“It just, it’s so dry. And it just wiped everything out.”
Simpson said she and her pets are safe and she’s staying with friends.
“I guess the silver lining in all this is I didn’t realize how blessed I was with how many people care about me and how many have stepped forward to tell me that any help I need they’re more than willing to help,” she added.
Friends have also set up a GoFundMe so that Simpson can get back on her feet.
But she says this situation is hard to prepare for.
“Just be prepared as much as you can and just know that it doesn’t matter how much you try and prepare for it, when the time happens, you’ll still panic,” she said.
“You’ve got to keep telling yourself, just calm down and just do things logically and just try and have things ready. That’s all I can say.”
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