Olalla residents return to find wildfire burned within metres of some homes

Evacuated residents from the town of Olalla, B.C., got the good news they’ve been hoping for Thursday when word came that they could return home.

Not long after the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen made the announcement, people who had been away for a week, since the evacuation order was issued, rushed to get back and see how close the Keremeos Creek fire came to their properties.

In some cases they saw that the fire had burned within 20 metres of houses.

“We are pretty grateful. My wife burst into tears. She couldn’t believe how close it got either,” said Marcel Mackel as he gestured towards the charred landscape. “Neither could I. We are just grateful that we still have a house.”

Tommy Smitheram was one of many who chose not to leave with the fire bearing down on the community — staying to try to protect his house instead.

He and some neighbours used a series of pumps and hoses to water down their properties with water from a nearby creek.

“The ones that stayed, we were kind of equipped for it. We had to be,” said Smitheram. “I don’t have fire insurance, you know? I built my own log house here.”

Although the fire was close, it didn’t encroach on his property or that of his neighbours.

“There were some embers coming down for a couple of days but the firefighters really did a great job,” said Luka Antic, who lives on the same block.

The fire continues to burn, but mostly in areas where there are no properties under threat.

The BC Wildfire Service is using planned ignitions to initiate controlled burns near Olalla and has warned residents they should expect to see increased smoke.

As work continues to contain the Keremeos Creek fire, BCWS is also closely monitoring thunderstorms developing across the interior of the province.

An intense cell crossed Penticton and Okanagan Lake Wednesday night, lighting up the sky for more than an hour with large flashes of lightning.

BCWS says it has rapid attack teams ready to deploy to any new fires started by lightning in an effort to get an upper hand on them before they pose a threat to property or people.

Residents of Olalla who spent a stressful week away are grateful for the efforts of firefighters who protected their homes.

“Great job all around. I read a story about how they’re getting paid — and they better get a raise after this one,” said Mackell.