“I lost everything.”
North Okanagan resident Jennifer Carlson didn’t know that when she was forced to leave her home two weeks ago that she would never be able to go back to it.
The White Rock Lake fire near Vernon has roared through the community, destroying homes and buildings.
“We’re like a family, our community and our whole area, all my friends, everyone in this area lost their homes,” she said. That’s about 80 homes.”
Carlson, her husband and three children have been living in a hotel since fleeing the blaze, but she only found out on Tuesday that she has no home to go back to.
She found out when someone sent her aerial photos of the site, but she said she has not been contacted by any agency.
“I have not officially been contacted by anyone, it’s been horrible,” she said.
“What am I supposed to do next? I don’t know, I don’t have a home to go to.”
She said she would like someone from an official agency to help her family figure out what they are supposed to do next.
“Where is the support? The firefighters are doing everything they can, but where’s our government and our prime minister?” she asked.
“I’m devastated. Our work, everything is gone. I have a cleaning company, my husband has a landscaping business. All our work is up there, we have nothing.
“What is going to lie ahead?”
She said they want to rebuild, but right now they are taking it one day at a time.
“What do I do? Where do I go? Because you can’t live in a hotel.”
When she fled, she said she had taken along pictures and a few clothes, but that’s it.
“We want help, everyone wants help, we want an explanation. This whole fire, it’s devastated everybody and it’s not going to be over for a long time.”
As of Wednesday morning, the White Rock Lake fire was a staggering 81,139 hectares in size. Wildfire officials said last week it is expected to burn for months.
This was up from 78,190 hectares on Tuesday — an increase of 2,949 hectares.
Officials said Tuesday that an early assessment of properties in the Ewings Landing and Killiney areas was conducted earlier this week, and that approximately 70 properties suffered significant damage.
More than 80 homes and buildings have been lost along Westside Road.
The emergency operations centre has been working to contact residents whose properties have been damaged, and that it has been in touch with most owners.
The Canadian Red Cross is accepting donations to help everyone affected by the B.C. wildfires.