B.C. wildfire evacuees help out the crews protecting their homes
A group of evacuees forced from their homes by the Keremeos Creek wildfire in B.C.'s south Okanagan has been raising money to provide coffee, water, donuts and other snacks to crews from nearby communities who are helping protect their properties.
The BC Wildfire Service says 160 firefighters from small departments are on the ground in Keremeos and Olalla working primarily to protect homes and businesses from the out-of-control wildfire.
Jordan Olsoff fled her Olalla home with her three kids, their two dogs and six chickens, and as many of important possessions as the family could fit in the car.
They don’t know what they’ll find when they return.
“It’s hard. It’s been stressful because my husband’s been away at work, too, so a lot of this I’ve been doing on my own,” she said through tears. “It’s been…gosh, I don’t even know what day it is right now…It’s been a week and a bit since we went on alert and since we left and it’s just been really stressful.”
Thankfully she and her children are able to stay with a friend, but she says she feels bad about imposing.
Monday she was at a temporary fire evacuee centre set up in Keremeos to check if it was possible for her family to move into a hotel.
If that doesn’t happen, she may take her family to Kamloops to stay with relatives but she’s reluctant to do that because that leaves her too far away to get to work.
Even with everything she’s going through and trying to manage right now, she has still found the time and energy to give something back to the firefighters.
She’s been taking up a collection in the community and using the money to make sure the firefighters are hydrated and energized.
“Just to show our appreciation. Thank you for doing what you can to try and save all the homes out there. I know somebody did lose their home and it was very, very sad,” she said.
One home was lost last weekend but the BC Wildfire Service says it has managed to keep the fire away from other properties since.
A total of 405 personnel are assigned to the fire and they’re being supported by 16 helicopters and some fixed-wing aircraft.
A camp has been set up at the airport in Oliver where the firefighters can sleep on the ground in tents between shifts spent fighting the wildfire which has scorched over 5900 hectares so far.
“It’s a very complex, complicated fire because it has burned into a bunch of different neighbourhood areas, different farm areas, along Highway 3A,” said Bryan Zanberg, a fire information officer.
“It’s also in these deep valleys and very hard to reach terrain. So, we’ve got all kinds of firefighting going on right now.”
He said crews in Olalla, where Olsoff’s home is at risk, have been building guards around the neighbourhood in order to separate the fire from residential areas.
The daytime highs have been in the mid-to-high 30s ever since this fire started -- nearly unbearable conditions for the firefighters toiling away with hand tools.
“The heat has been one of our biggest concerns these last few days,” said Zanberg. “Really having to make sure crews take lots of breaks, drink a lot, and people are looking after each other and making sure they are not overexerting themselves.”
That’s what makes small gestures like the ones being organized by Olsoff and her neighbours so touching.
“It is heart-warming but it also kind of rips you a little bit too because people are out of their homes, ” said Zanberg. “I think it’s pretty motivating.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.