When Gizette Summer moved to Pentiction, B.C. a month ago with her husband and her two small children, she didn’t anticipate having to pack up again as a wildfire raged nearby.
Summer and her family live nearby the Christie Mountain fire which, as of Thursday, grew to 2,000 hectares.
Summer said she and her husband are used to wildfire season — her husband grew up in Kelowna and she spent many summers visiting.
However she’s worried her children will quickly miss home.
“It’s just the kids, I know they find comfort in the things they call home,” Summer explained.
“We could go visit family for a few days, but they’ll want to come home, and we want a home to come back to.”
The wildfires in British Columbia sent a haze over the city of Calgary. On Thursday afternoon, according to Environment Canada, the air quality index sat at 4, which is a moderate risk.
Rick Bacon had to evacuate his home in Penticton on a moment’s notice. He said luckily his family was able to secure a hotel on short notice.
He lives in Heritage Hills, where a home burnt to the ground due to the wildfire.
Bacon said it was nerve wracking, as the house that was destroyed by fire is just a stone’s throw from where he lived.
“To see a house that decimated and you walk by that house on your daily walk,” he said.
“It’s pretty frightening to think that could happen to your house.”
Fire officials said Thursday afternoon that winds were expected to climb to 70 kilometres an hour, which would add to the challenge already created by steep slopes and hills for firefighters to access.