Fire-ravaged Shuswap region slowly recovering one year after destruction

A glimpse of the Bush Creek East wildfire's devastating path of destruction is seen Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. The fire destroyed nearly 200 structures, according to Columbia Shuswap Regional District. (Melanie Nagy)

One year after hundreds of people were displaced and key infrastructure was destroyed in a tense fire fight, British Columbians in the Shuswap region are on the road to recovery, with mixed results.

Some homes have yet to be demolished, while a handful are nearly complete in the Scotch Creek area. In total, the Adams Fire Complex – a mega-fire that formed after several wildfires merged – saw 176 structures destroyed by flames while another 50 were damaged.

“The community is 3,200 as of 2021 and we’ve lost maybe 99 permanent resident homes, so that takes out a couple hundred people (who remain displaced),” said Jay Simpson, the director of Electoral Area F.

He said many people in the area are looking to re-build or upgrade with fire-proof building materials like HardiePlank and galvanized roofing, while taking a renewed interest in fire-smarting their properties.

“The fire, as devastating as it was, has opened our eyes and we can look forward to better things in the community over the years coming,” said Simpson.

The chief administrative officer for the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District outlined ongoing geotechnical and riparian concerns as a result of fire damage: the flames raged for days, even weeks in some areas, and residents have been warned the soil needs assessment with more than 200 properties at considerable risk of landslides.

“We’ve been working our way through the processes that are involved in terms of redevelopment for the homes that were lost,” said John MacLean.

Better co-operation with BCWS

As homeowners take their time deciding what to rebuild and how, the Scotch Creek Fire Hall is the last key piece of infrastructure that municipal leaders have to replace. There was hardly even a shell of the building left when the fire peaked on Aug. 18, 2023, roaring across 20 kilometres of towns and terrain in half a day.

Tensions reached their peak as the BC Wildfire Service pulled back from fighting the dangerous and aggressive flames, while residents who chose to stay behind or were trapped without an escape route relied on each other to try and save their homes with equipment abandoned by fire crews.

The BC Wildfire Service took the criticism to heart and has made changes to involve citizen firefighters, while Simpson says there’s been a lot of constructive dialogue since then.

“BC Wildfire is doing a better job than last year, I’m happy with the way they’ve been approaching this and the communication that’s been coming out,” he said. “We’ve all learned from challenges that we had last year and I’m really encouraged by what I see going on this year.”

Long-term planning and recovery

While there haven’t been any homes lost around the Shuswap or Adams lakes this year, the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District has seen structural losses in other areas in its jurisdiction and smaller fires have kept staff on their toes focusing on emergency response rather than core municipal services constituents rely on.

“It wasn’t always this way, there was times you went several years without having a fire or a flood or a landslide or something,” said MacLean. “But with climate change and everything else, we’re seeing it much more often and it’s becoming taxing on our organizations.”

He expects the topic of disaster response and support for communities, many of them tiny with budgets and staffing to match, will once again be a priority for representatives at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in September, when mayors, councillors and administrators hold important face-to-face meetings with provincial officials.

“We have to understand that that is our new model, what every region in this province is going to get year after year after year,” MacLean said. “We have to dedicate the resources, we have to work with our communities.”