'A tornado of fire': More evacuations as Keremeos wildfire grows
Update at 7:30 p.m.: The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen has issued an evacuation order for all of Olalla, B.C., along Highway 3A in Electoral Area G, as well as several properties south of the village. All evacuation orders are available on the regional district’s website.
New evacuation orders have been issued as the Keremeos Creek wildfire continues to grow.
More than 400 properties are now on an evacuation order and hundreds of others are on an evacuation alert.
More firefighters have also joined the battle with crews attacking it from both the ground and from the air.
When the wildfire was last mapped Wednesday, it was about 4,250 hectares. It’s believed to have spread even further.
The fire came frighteningly close to homes along Highway 3A on Wednesday evening, but crews were able to stop it from burning any structures.
However, last Friday, one home did burn to the ground.
Les Murzsa owned that home and returned for the first time Thursday to see the devastation first hand.
“There’s nothing left. I don’t even know what some of this stuff is,” said Murzsa as he tried to identify his belongings in the ashes.
He pointed to one object, saying: “My piano strings. I’m pretty sure.”
Les Murzsa returned to his home for the first time Thursday to see the devastation first hand.
Murzsa was one of the first to spot smoke, but he didn’t think his home would fall in the path of what has become a raging wildfire.
“Then the wind changed and all of a sudden the fire was directly across the street and there was a tornado of fire at one point and my heart started racing,” he said, explaining that he left only about an hour before his house caught fire.
“There were ashes raining down. Fire seemed to be getting closer.”
He did not have insurance and lost everything. He pegs his losses at around $400,000. An online fundraiser has been set up to help him.
Though devastated at the losses, he said he’s had to put it in perspective.
“In the end, you just lost a bunch of wood and belongings and a couch and that’s not all that important but a lifetime's worth of memories in there.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.