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Glad that folks are safe. Did a family run up to Glacier last week, and photographically it was a bust if one wanted to attempt any landscape level images. The rumor was BC and Washington fires.

Next time around I think we'll go with a spring opening.


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Alas, the evac. orders only apply to humans: Rodents take over home while family flees wildfires.

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A single mother living near Clinton, B.C., thought her summer was bad enough when she fled her ranch with her two young sons and nearly 50 animals in order to avoid encroaching wildfires.

Chelsea Trill relocated with her family and animals to Abbotsford in early July, where they spent about 45 days with family friends. 

Trill explained to Radio West host Sarah Penton that when she recently opened the door to her house, she originally thought squatters had moved in while her family was away.

However, she soon realized all of the doors were still locked and there were visible signs of rodents.

"I thought someone had broken in and trashed the place when we were gone," explained Trill.

She says toys were moved, food and bedding chewed, and there were rodent droppings and urine everywhere.
"It was just unprotected for the 45 days we were gone, and they just went wild."

Trill says she dealt with pack rats, a type of rat that is native to Canada, at the beginning of the gardening season. The rodents would eat her small plants if she left them outside overnight. However, her dogs and cats had chased the pack rats off, so she and her boys were relatively unbothered by the rodents.

Unfortunately, when the dogs and cats left with the family, the home was left unprotected and the pack rats moved in.
The family threw out baby items, clothing, bedding and food that wasn't canned before disinfecting all household surfaces.

The Red Cross provided the family with a large amount of cleaning supplies.

Trill says that since they live minimally she guesses the net losses are around $500. 

She plans to make changes and do things differently if they are ever forced to evacuate again.


Still, at least she had a house to come back to

Last edited by Stuart; 08/31/17.

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Round 2 for South Canim Lake.

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Early this morning (Sept. 1), the RCMP tactically evacuated a number of CRD residents south of Canim Lake. Emergency Support Services, including group lodging, are available in 100 Mile House at the Hillside Community Church, formerly known as the Bethel Church (550 Exeter Truck Road). We are working with the BC Wildfire Service and RCMP to determine if an official evacuation order for the area is required. More details will be shared later this morning as they become available. Please note, those who are immediately threatened have already been asked to leave by the RCMP.

Last edited by Cariboo; 09/01/17.
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This crew from Quebec putting on a show again this time at Sheridan Lake.

BTW Viking Air in Victoria has acquired the Type Certificates (manufacturing rights) for all variants of Bombardier's amphibious aircraft including the CL-415 shown in this video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=QSJagLytnlE

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That is one crazy video of those water bombers.

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Cariboo;
Good afternoon Gary, I hope the first day of the Labour Day Weekend has been going as planned and uneventful for you.

We had a fire yesterday just west of Penticton that we watched from work. They had a big loader from a nearby gravel pit and two bucket choppers on it right away and they still had their hands full. Was quite windy from the south again then and that of course helps not one bit.

Thanks for the video of the yellow planes from Quebec, it brings back memories for us. When we got word we had to go during the Vaseaux Fire in '03 we could count the rivets on the wings of those yellow planes. Loading the horses during an airshow was smoother than we expected it was going to be, but perhaps they wanted to go by then too, not sure?

Somewhere we've got photos of them and the two Mars Martin bombers loading in Skaha Lake. The Quebec crew was already in the neighborhood fighting the big fire east of Kelowna that year and of course the Mars came in from Sproat Lake daily. The really annoying thing was they had to keep the RCMP boat on Skaha herding boaters away so they could load the planes. Another one for the file names "folks are special" I guess?

Anyway sir, if it ever cools down and/or we get some rain, lets hope we can get some hunting in along with the firewood gathering that's already late. Good luck with both and all the best to you all.

Dwayne


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Good day Dwayne,

As you are undoubtedly aware another new fire started this afternoon North of you near Peachland. Wildfire service is calling it "very aggressive" . Hopefully they will be all over this one before it gets too large.

As much as I dislike "road-hunting" I think my hunting this fall will be from the seat of the pickup as we head into the bush to cut wood. LoL (If it ever cools off) We have a young black bear hanging around in the bush behind our house as we have a neighbour just down the road with crab apple trees she can't be bothered to pick. We live in a very rural area so I might just have to put this young bear into the freezer.

4 new fires today around Clinton and Kamloops. All were human-caused. I really wish that people would just stay home until the bush becomes safer.


Gary

Last edited by Cariboo; 09/02/17.
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The BC Wildfire Service is responding to a fire near Finlay Creek, approximately 7.5 kilometres southwest of Peachland. The fire is currently estimated at 20 hectares in size and generating a lot of smoke, which is highly visible from nearby communities, Highway 97 and Okanagan Lake. The steep terrain and strong western winds are factors of the increasing fire behaviour crews are currently battling.

There are airtankers, three helicopters and 7 firefighters on the fire with additional crews heading to the incident. No structures in the area are immediately threatened.

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NOT AN OFFICIAL REPORT but local residents are now reporting the Elephant Hill Fire has reached the South Shore of Sheridan Lake near the Sheridan Park Resort. The fire is now spreading East following the shoreline as well as heading North past the West side of Sheridan and headed towards Highway 24. Many resorts are located on this lake as well as hundreds of permanent residences.

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Northern flank of the Elephant Hill fire Sunday morning September 3rd. This is the same fire that did a 9 km run in under 24 hours a couple of days ago.

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Originally Posted by Cariboo
The BC Wildfire Service is responding to a fire near Finlay Creek, approximately 7.5 kilometres southwest of Peachland. The fire is currently estimated at 20 hectares in size and generating a lot of smoke, which is highly visible from nearby communities, Highway 97 and Okanagan Lake. The steep terrain and strong western winds are factors of the increasing fire behaviour crews are currently battling.

There are airtankers, three helicopters and 7 firefighters on the fire with additional crews heading to the incident. No structures in the area are immediately threatened.



In 24 hours this fire has grown to over 1000 ha (2500 acres) and evacuation orders have been issued. frown

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Figures released by the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) today. Please note this is just losses within the CRD.

[Linked Image]

Last edited by Cariboo; 09/05/17.
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Drove through BC at the end of Aug. Very nice drive as it always is. No highway closures so smooth sailing from that perspective.

Had some smoke around Prince George, but not bad. On the return it seemed much clearer.

Lots of rain on the south end of the Cassiar. Hope it comes to where you really need it.


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Way too many fires.

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'I don't think any of us have had a chance to consider the sheer magnitude of what happened out there'

CBC article here

To say that Kevin Skrepnek had a busy summer would be an understatement.

As the chief fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service during the province's worst wildfire season on record, he spent most of the past few months working 16-hour shifts.

Between ensuring that government ministries and the public had the latest intelligence on dozens of wildfires, fielding calls from journalists and travelling into fire zones to provide first hand support, Skrepnek also became a dad.

You'd think that Skrepnek, a cheerful 30-year-old who bears a striking resemblance to actor Seth Rogan, would be getting some rest.

But as the summer turns to fall, Skrepnek has debriefs to complete and data to crunch — after all, the next wildfire season is right around the corner.

But first, back to the day it all began.

'A day a lot of us won't forget'

July 7, 2017 is a date that many B.C. residents won't forget anytime soon.

A hot, dry Friday that Skrepnek said started as "business is usual" soon turned into a nightmare.

Over the course of one afternoon, over a hundred wildfires broke out across the province. By the end of the day, B.C. was in a provincial state of emergency.

For Skrepnek, watching from his perch in the Kamloops Fire Centre, it quickly became clear that the situation was spiralling out of control.

"I definitely shed a few tears that day."

'The first time I saw B.C. it was on fire'

Skrepnek grew up in Ontario, and first visited B.C. in 2003.

"My first time seeing B.C., when my plane came over the Rockies, the pilot directed us to look out the window and there was a huge forest fire going," he said.

"It was kind of fitting, the first time I saw British Columbia it was on fire."

Skrepnek eventually moved to B.C. to study public relations at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

His first summer off from school, he got a seasonal position with the Wildfire Service.

'The only vehicle driving north'

In a summer defined by sweat, tears, and nail-bitting close calls, a few moments stand out. For Skrepnek, the massive evacuation of the city of Williams Lake is one of them.

That's because as he headed into the city under the cover of darkness, the massive wildfire he was driving towards wasn't the only thing on his mind.

"I was glad I was there to help, but I was also expecting my daughter to be born kind of within the week."

Skrepnek left Williams Lake on July 20 and headed to Chilliwack, where the first contingent of Australian personnel was arriving to provide relief.

He then held a quick press conference, and rushed back to Kamloops for the baby's delivery.

"For someone in my industry it was about the least ideal time possible."

Skrepnek took three days off to spend time with his partner and newborn daughter, who they named Sage. Then he headed back to work.

The calm after the storm

As the season unwinds, Skrepnek said he's aware of the mental toll the fires have taken on him and his staff.

"When I look back at the summer and the amount of stress that was on us, I don't think any of us have had a chance to look back and consider the sheer magnitude of what happened out there."

At the peak of the evacuations, 45,000 people were out of their homes. As of late September, 1.2 million hectares had burned, and the firefighting efforts had cost the province $518.8 million.

But there's also another number worth considering: no one died, or was gravely injured as a direct result of the fires.

Skrepnek said that's a testament to the people of B.C.

"I've been busy, there's no doubt about it. But there are people who have been out there on four or five tours now — sleeping in tents, working on the fire line, hard, exhausting work. Not to mention the people who have been evacuated and are living in gymnasiums and community centres.

"I think my summer has probably paled in comparison to what they've been through."


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Originally Posted by CBC
'I don't think any of us have had a chance to consider the sheer magnitude of what happened out there'


I, and thousands of my neighbors, have lived through the nightmare that was the summer of 2017 and know exactly the magnitude of the disaster.

Friday July 7th was a surreal experience for those of us in the Central Cariboo. (I won't talk here about the horrific losses in the South Cariboo and Chilcotin) After work around 5:00 pm I was at a service station in Williams Lake filling up my pickup and getting a couple of 20 pound propane bottles filled for the upcoming weekend. The first dry lightning strike was on the ridge of Fox Mountain overlooking the city. Within seconds a column of black smoke was reaching for the sky. Getting into the pickup to head home to McLeese Lake - 35 km North of WL - the radio announcer was talking about multiple lightning strikes in the area and how the hot & dry wind was really starting to spread the fires.

Heading home I drove by 2 more fires one near the WL airport and the other very close to the community of Wildwood. A little further North another fire was burning near the highway in the Hawkes Creek valley near where that creek dumps into the Fraser River. Looking across the river towards the Chilcotin Plateau 3 separate fires were burning West of the ridge at Buckskin, Castle Rock, and Twan Lake.

By the time I got home, about an hour after the initial strikes, the smoke from all the fires had reduced visibility considerably. 24 hours later visibility was down to a few hundred yards.

On July 8th we had 10 out of control wildfires burning within 25 km of our home. They were burning to the North, South, East, and West of us! This was just the start of the problems as region wide we had over 60 out of control wildfires burning up the landscape. My wife and I started getting prepared and loaded up both out pickups and hooked up the trailers just in case we had to get out although I don't know where we would have gone as there were fires burning across the Highways both North and South of us.

The wildfire service fought the fires for the next week with little containment. Then the wind really came up ............................

We spent 2 weeks living with family in Quesnel and after our return home stayed on evacuation alert for another month. We were fortunate as our only loss was a TV set that I think was the victim of a power spike. Our freezers and fridge stay powered up while we were gone so we lost no food. Not all our neighbors were as lucky and many homes and outbuilding were lost.

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I can't Imagine how stressful this summer must have been for you folks.


If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
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