B.C. family returns to home burned by Shetland Creek wildfire

When Radha McAllister looks at the charred rubble of what had been her home, her eyes search for things that her family might still be able to salvage.

“One step at a time, we’ll haul out all the burnt metal,” she said. “Anything that can be turned into an art piece, that will go into a different pile.”

McAllister’s home is one of six that was lost to the Shetland Creek Wildfire, along with about 20 outbuildings after residents were forced to flee.

“It was terrifying quite frankly,” she recalled of the night the fire started to come toward their off-grid community of Vennables Valley, not far from Spences Bridge.

“The fact that we ran and there were firefighters that came and ran toward (the fire), there’s so much gratitude to them,” she said.

McAllister, her husband and two daughters were recently allowed to return to their property to take in the devastation.

“We’ve been on such a rollercoaster of emotions,” she said. “We are mourning, but we’re also looking forward because staying in the past isn’t going to help us much at this point.”

She said the night of the fire was gut-wrenching for her family as they scrambled to get out their three sheep.

“They did not get into our pick up truck when that fire was coming down the mountain,” McAllister said in an interview with CTV News.

“So after an hour of trying, and it getting hotter and hotter, we made the heartbreaking decision to leave them behind. So we open the gate and we drove away. And that just killed me,” McAllister said, crying as the recalled the trauma of leaving the sheep behind.

But miraculously, the sheep survived. Friends brought them out of Venables Valley after the fire passed through and are now caring for them.

The Shetland Creek Wildfire is now more than 28,000 hectares and still burning out of control.

“The area we are having challenges with containment is really just that southwest corner of the fire,” said Julia Caranci of the BC Wildfire Service.

“That’s partly to do with steep terrain, access challenges, but we have actually been making very good progress over the last while,” she said, adding that there are only limited hot spots being found in Venables Valley.

“We’ve done several aerial scans of the area and have been working really hard to action any little remaining pockets of heat, but that is all going very, very well,” she said.

The McAllisters, like many others in Venables Valley, did not have fire insurance. She said the cost was prohibitive. They have been living in a hotel, but hope to rebuild with the help of volunteers and the Venables Valley Wildfire Relief Fund that’s been launched for their community.

“We’re going to live in a home that’s built entirely on love, and that’s so incredible,” she said.

“So as much as there’s hard, hard work ahead of us, we have good company that’s going to be there lifting us up all the way,” said a teary McAllister.

McAllister said while being displaced and knowing the volume of work ahead can feel overwhelming at times, she’s grateful for those who have already stepped up to help, including Team Rubicon, a veteran-led humanitarian organization that’s been assisting in the clean-up.

She also said she is encouraged that despite the destruction caused by the fire, there are areas untouched by the fire, or where vegetation is already starting to grow back.