Ian Bailey and Jennifer MacMillan
The Globe and Mail
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. — As helicopters swooped over fires that have forced the evacuation of thousands around this city, evacuee Jeff Bezugley said there is no way to describe the situation other than a “nightmare.”
“I guess your worst nightmare has come true where you see flames in the hills and know there are houses up there,” said Mr. Bezugley as he walked his two dogs by the arena housing evacuees.
“It’s a hazard of living out here. It’s dry. It’s tinder-dry.”
More than 17,000 B.C. residents are living through Mr. Bezugley’s bad dream as they anxiously hope their homes will be spared by the three separate forest fires that broke out within hours of each other on Saturday. As of last night, 11,000 people had been ordered to leave their homes and another 6,000 were on evacuation alert.
The fires sent clouds of smoke billowing from two points in the hills overlooking Kelowna. Mr. Bezugley, a salesman for a building-supplies company, lives in Glenrosa, an area where more than 400 hectares have been consumed by the fire.
He was evacuated from his home with his wife and two children, and they headed for a friend’s condo.
Fire officials estimate another fire, in Rose Valley, about 10 kilometres from Glenrosa, had burned through about 150 hectares. The third fire, near Terrace Mountain, is in a remote region and wasn’t threatening any homes as of last night.
At a news conference last night, firefighters said they had made “a lot of good progress.”
Dale Bojahra, with the Forest Ministry’s wildfire-management branch, said winds were relatively calm yesterday, and crews managed to install a water delivery system to tackle the Glenrosa fire, which was about 40 per cent contained.
He said the Rose Valley fire has been more challenging due to steep ground and little road access, prompting the “aggressive” use of helicopters and aircraft dropping fire retardant. “Tomorrow, we’ll continue building on the successes we have had today,” he said.
However, it’s still uncertain when people might be allowed to return to their homes, or whether more people will be evacuated.
“It really just depends on the behaviour of the fire,” said fire information officer Tom Wilson. “There isn’t very much turf left that isn’t on alert or hasn’t already been evacuated.”
The RCMP have been patrolling the evacuated areas and warning anyone who has stayed behind that it would be wise to leave.
“If they refuse to leave, they [RCMP] go through the routine of asking for their next of kin and their dentist so they can get their dental records in case the house burns down,” Mr. Wilson said.
The fires in 2003 destroyed more than 200 homes, and Mr. Wilson says the dry weather so far this summer and the forecast of continued heat doesn’t bode well.
“I’m hearing that it’s even drier than the summer of 2003,” Mr. Wilson said. “The snow pack in the mountain was at really historic lows and there’s been very little rain this spring as well.”
B.C. Solicitor-General Kash Heed said he is hopeful for a quick victory over the fires.
“We are just hoping the weather co-operates and we are able to contain this fire in a very short time,” he said in a conference call from Victoria.
“This time we have the resources in the province to deal with this,” he said, noting the province had turned down an offer of help from Alberta.
He said the province had deployed more workers to the scene. More than 125 firefighters have been using 10 helicopters and eight air tankers to put out the blazes.
Officials have yet to figure out what caused the blaze, but are investigating, Mr. Heed said. He noted the damage has been minimal, referring to three homes and a mobile unit.
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day, whose riding includes Kelowna, spent the weekend travelling back and forth between the emergency centre, where evacuated residents have been gathering, and his own home, which sits roughly two kilometres from the front line of the fire.
“The fire is visible from my backyard,” he said yesterday — close enough that he watched as the flames built quickly. “The winds were so strong that within 15 minutes it was just an inferno. We could see it racing across the hillside.”
Across the parking lot from the arena/evacuation centre, Glenrosa resident Rick Hebner and his wife, Barb, were hunkered down in their 30-foot trailer with their short-haired grey tabby, Max.
“I am absolutely positive that things are going to work out just fine,” said Mr. Hebner, recently retired after 30 years in the military as a naval electronics technician.
The couple were taking a nap Saturday afternoon when they got a smoky surprise.
“We closed our eyes for an hour when we got home and woke up and there was smoke everywhere. The sky was dark, and it was ‘Wait a moment. It was sunny a moment ago,’ ” Mr. Hebner said.
The couple discovered there was a fire on the hill above their house, so they fetched their cat and loaded up their trailer.
Others were not so lucky. One woman, sitting sleepily in her car nearby, said her husband was in the evacuation centre looking into their options.
“Not that we can’t pay for a hotel room, but we’re told there are no hotel rooms,” said the 78-year-old woman, who declined to give her name. She said they had only got out of their Rose Valley home Saturday with their fire insurance.
“That’s about it.”
With a report from Erin Anderssen
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