B.C. urges co-operation in Shuswap as fire crews say they are facing 'threats and abuse' from defiant locals

Provincial officials say residents defying evacuation orders in B.C.'s Shuswap region are undermining the "unified" fight against the wildfires and compromising first responders' safety – as tensions in the region remain high.

While rain and clearer skies have helped with firefighting efforts, the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly "divisive," Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said at a news conference Wednesday where she reiterated the province's plea for people to leave the area while extending an olive branch to locals.

"Our collective fight is with the wildfire. But in order to do this, our efforts need to be united – we need to work together, not against each other," Ma said.

The Bush Creek East Fire, which makes up the bulk of the Adams Complex, is estimated at 410 square kilometres and has been described as one of the fastest-moving, most aggressive fires in the province's history. The full extent of property loss has yet to be confirmed, but homes, a fire hall and businesses have been destroyed.

Thousands were ordered to flee, but some locals who refused to leave have taken the fight into their own hands, accusing the province of failing to provide enough resources and effectively abandoning them to protect their homes.

Reid Foreman is one of them. He admits he knowingly disobeyed evacuation orders and tells CTV News he would do it again.

“In a heartbeat,” said the Eagle Bay resident who works in the forestry industry.

“I’ll get arrested, I’ll get a fine, I don’t care – I’m helping, I know I’m helping.”

 'IT ESCALATES THE DANGER'

Ma said she was sympathetic but stressed that remaining in an evacuation zone is illegal, dangerous, and detrimental to efforts to contain the blaze.

"When unauthorized people are in evacuation areas, it escalates the danger involved for everyone. It also limits the kind of wildfire-fighting tactics that the BC Wildfire Service can deploy," she said, adding later that aerial attacks and controlled burns are prohibited in areas where "civilians" are present.

"It redirects critical resources away from the wildfire fight itself – into searching for moved equipment, redoing work that's already been done to set up structural protection, or just trying to manage an unpredictable situation made even more unpredictable by well-meaning but unco-ordinated firefighting efforts," Ma added.

Trent Tucker, a professor at Thompson Rivers University, lost his home to the fires near Little Shuswap Lake.

He said it's entirely irresponsible for people to stay back in evacuation order zones, and he's "extremely upset'' by stories ``lionizing'' those who have defied evacuation orders.

"Our home is completely gone and yet we have these dummies that stuck around behind and the news is treating them like some sort of heroes," he said.

A map of the evacuation orders and alerts in the North Shuswap (Thompson Nicola Regional District)

SPIKE BELTS SET UP

The RCMP has confirmed that spike belts have been set up at some roadblocks and that officers are patrolling inside of the evacuation zone to make sure people are not leaving their properties. People found wandering in evacuated areas may be arrested, authorities warned.

"However, anyone who wishes to leave is being allowed, and also may be assisted in doing so," Cpl. James Grandy of the B.C. RCMP said in an emailed statement to CTV News.

The spike belts were only placed due to "numerous people failing to stop at these road blocks," he added.

Foreman had to pass one of these checkpoints on Saturday, before the spike belts were set up.

After getting married in Kimberley, he loaded up his pick-up truck with a pump and tote and drove towards the evacuation area, before being stopped.

Undeterred, he kept driving.

“I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal. I have a class 1, I am a mechanic. I know how to do all this stuff,” “I can help and I can’t just sit around and watch my friend’s houses burn.”

Foreman expressed frustration and disappointment with the official response to the emergency, particularly the police presence.

"They are not helping,” he said.

CONFRONTATION, CRITICISM, 'CONSPIRACIES' TAKING A TOLL

 In a video update Wednesday, Sean Coubrough, Deputy Regional Fire Chief for the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, said it's been difficult for local crews to do their jobs.

"There's a small percentage of the population that's been negative. We've had some instances of threats, abuse, theft of equipment, and other unfortunate events," he said.

"The men and women that have been working so hard certainly don't deserve that. All they want to do is help."

While the loss of homes and structures has been significant, with firefighters among those who have lost everything, Coubrough ended his statement by saying: "We haven’t lost lives, not yet."

Cliff Chapman, with the BC Wildfire Service, said crews who have been working long hours for months amid a devastating and record-breaking season are aware of the criticism and accusations being levelled by locals.

"When (firefighters) turn on their phones at the end of a 14-hour shift and they see negative media and/or negative social media posts about what they had done that day, or what they have been doing for the course of the last three months – it has a profound impact on them," he said at the news conference Wednesday.

"We are doing everything that we can to try to protect those homes. We're doing everything that we can to try to make sure that people can get home as fast as they can. And so it has a big impact on our staff. It has a negative impact when they see some of the conspiracies and some of the questioning."

Still, both Ma and Chapman said efforts are underway to connect with residents in the Shuswap in order to find a way to work together.

BCWS OPEN TO JOINING FORCES WITH LOCALS

In a separate update Wednesday, BCWS Fire Information Officer Forrest Tower said while it’s still ideal for people to leave evacuation zones people who chose to stay can help out—as long as they’re willing to take direction from BCWS.

He said at the Rossmoore Lake fire near Kamloops, some local residents have been hired—and paid—as emergency firefighters and many more have volunteered to get involved in a number of ways.

And the same thing can happen in the North Shuswap.

“It just comes back to communication,” Tower said. “We are setting the operational tactics so there needs to be some trust in that what we’re doing is the most efficient and fastest way to get people back in this area.”

To sign up as a firefighter, you need to have the proper basic training and personal protection equipment, he added.

Ma echoed those comments at Wednesday’s news conference, saying: “The BC Wildfire Service is reaching out to skilled, experienced people in the Shuswap to try and incorporate them into their work, but we have to be working together on this fire. People can't be doing their own thing.”

BUSH CREEK EAST THE NUMBER ONE PRIORITY

Based on the way BC Wildfire Service ranks wildfires, the Bush Creek East fire is currently the province’s number one priority.

“Every resource made available that is not critical to firefighting operations is on its way here,” Tower said.

Between 100 and 150 more firefighters will be arriving in the Shuswap area Tuesday and Wednesday.

As well, the district has been given special authority from the province to provide Emergency Support Services to communities who aren’t under evacuation order, but are blocked by communities that are, said Derek Sutherland, director of CSRD Emergency Operations Centre. Those communities include Anglemont and Saint Ives.

And while the blaze is still growing, and out of control, crews are making good progress.

Over the past day there has been a “widespread diminishing of fire behaviour,” Tower said. That’s thanks to overnight rain, lower temperatures and higher humidity.

Tower said firefighters are not expecting any more major changes or growth on the fire, and the blaze has a “promising trend of direction.”

Crews are focusing on the fire’s perimeter, and there are structure protection crews in Scotch Creek, Lee Creek, Turtle Valley, Celista, Magna Bay and Sorrento.

A more accurate fire perimeter map is also expected in the near future.

Part of the fire is in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which confirmed Wednesday that structures were damaged or destroyed on 11 properties in the area.

According to Tower, Heavy urban search and rescue team Canada Task Force 1 is currently on the ground doing damage assessment in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, and the number of affected structures could come as early as Wednesday night.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kevin Charach and The Canadian Press