More than 1,200 people have now filtered through an evacuation centre in Salmon Arm, B.C., not far from where the massive Bush Creek East wildfire continues to burn out of control.
Cathy Semchuk, coordinator for the Shuswap Emergency Program, said the centre has supported between 400 and 500 families this month, most of whom poured in last week.
“They’re pretty resilient. They’re devastated, but they’re already thinking of the recovery and what their plan looks like, and how they can get back together as a community,” she told Global News.
“It’s very uplifting listening to them.”
The centre in Salmon Arm is a regional hub, meaning evacuees are coming from a number of wildfire-impacted communities, including Kelowna and West Kelowna.
Semchuk said she’s especially proud of the volunteers, who are “working day and night” to clothe, feed and house those struggling in the midst of the province’s worst wildfire season on record.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 375 wildfires still burned across the province. Some 27,000 British Columbians were under evacuation order and about 35,000 more were on alert.
The Bush Creek East fire, burning an estimated 41,041 hectares of land, continues to be a major concern for the BC Wildfire Service, which has assigned more than 130 support staff and firefighters to it. Evacuation orders and alerts remain in place, issued by the Adams Lake Indian Band and Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
Janice Betts, a resident of Indigo Bay by Little Shuswap Lake, said it’s taxing to keep up with all the news — good and bad — that’s circulating about the wildfire that drove her from home.
“But you just have to take it with a grain of salt and wait ’till it’s over,” she said from the evacuation centre in Salmon Arm. “It’s really tough. I just want to go home. I’m sure everybody wants to go home.”
As far as Betts knows, her home is still standing.
“I just cry for Celista and the destruction. The fire’s not stopping,” she added.
Doug and Roxanne Kilback of Scotch Creek are still grappling with the loss of both their home and the bottle depot they own together. As they evacuated, they said they had to drive right through the fire.
“I’ve never seen such heavy winds,” Doug recalled. “Everything was going nuts … I looked out, the whole mountain was on fire on the backside of Scotch Creek.
“There was fires everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The couple expressed gratitude to the firefighters and volunteers supporting them and all of B.C.
While there was no significant growth to the Bush Creek East fire overnight, fire information officer Forrest Tower said smoky skies continue to impact crews’ ability to douse the fire by air. The smoke, however, also prevents the sun from hitting the ground, which has contained some of the fire behaviour.
“Wildland firefighters are engaged north of Shuswap Lake, kind of up on that hillside where that fire’s leading edge is,” Tower said in a Tuesday briefing.
“That’s where those structural firefighters are working as well.”
Firefighters responded to a new, lightning-sparked fire north of Anglemont on Tuesday morning as well, Tower added. While that fire is still burning, he said he expects it will be successfully controlled.
Crews continue to attack the Bush Creek East fire’s multiple arms, implementing new control lines and structure protection at each flank. They continue to meet the fire as it moves down-slope, Tower said.
South of Highway 1, crews are working in the Turtle Valley and Sorrento area as well. Eighteen sets of equipment were set up to protect structures in north Sorrento, “well in advance of any imminent threat.”
“It’s not actively challenging our efforts right now but we do have a concern in that area in that there is potential there given the fuel type and availability,” Tower said.
John MacLean, risk management officer for the Shuswap Emergency Program, said anyone who has not yet evacuated and is under evacuation order is still urged to leave the area.
“Let them do their job,” he said in reference to all the firefighters working in the evacuation zones. “That’s the quickest way for this fire to get under control and for us all to return to our normal lives.”
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