The 2023 Fire Storm
September 15, 2023
We knew the fire might come our way so we did a lot to prepare for it. We had sprinklers on our roofs, reservoirs full of water and pumps to work the sprinklers. We had been watching the Adams lake east fire for quite some time and were very worried about it. The day of the fire my son Dylan and I pushed all the debris away from the shop, filled up the reservoirs and ran the sprinklers for hours. This saved the shop I’m sure as all the stuff we moved away into the field was burnt to a crisp.
I then went down to get another load of water to take up to Rheas and turn on the sprinklers on my house. As I was coming up the road I met Jayson coming down and he said there is no reason to come up here, the fire is coming. I figured I’d just drive up to the shop and turn around and come back. When I got to the village road there was a log jam. My neighbor, an old guy with long gray hair was parked in the middle of the road and was outside his car talking on his telephone. I guess he was panicked as he wouldn’t listen to anyone telling him to get off the road and let us by. He had three cars trying to get through quite anxiously. I had to yell at him a couple times to get him to move off the road and let us go by. It was right in front of Mariko’s so he had plenty of room to get off the road, there was no excuse to block the road. I then drove just as far as Holly’s green house when I realized that the fire was very close, the wind was howling and I knew there was nothing more we could do. I looked to see that the sprinklers were working. I turned around and fled and told the people by Mariko’s they had to leave and leave right now! Rhea at this point went and made sure that Mary senior was on her way out. It was so eerie to leave knowing there was a monster coming and wondering what it would leave behind. I prayed for the village.
I went back to my place and topped up the reservoirs, filled the gas tank and started the motor for the sprinklers. The SPU people had earlier set up a sprinkler on my house and hooked up my system to theirs. I was so happy that it was going to be all looked after. When I got back to the house the fire people had all left and their tank was empty. I understand that their fire camp at squillax was being devastated with wild fire and they had to run but I think that their leadership was flawed as they should have had those tanks full with pumps ready. They had kilometres of hose and lots of equipment at their disposal, it was useless without full tanks. They had days to fill up those tanks but they were empty. All those days of work laying out hose was basically useless.
Luckily, I had my system set up and switched back to it and got it going. I then went over to Jayce and Dylan and we set up their sprinkler systems and then left for the beach as the firestorm was getting close.
Bob and I were the first down at the beach and we saw the first flickers of fire over on the other side of the lake by the beginning of little river. At first, we saw flickering flames down by the beginning of little river and then It only took 15 minutes and the fire was two thirds of the way up Squilax mountain. We could see some spot fires about a km. to the east. In an hour the whole mountain was on fire. It looked like suspended lava was pouring down the mountain.
During this time many people started congregating on my beach. I think at one point there was 10 or more trucks down there. We figured that if it got to crazy we’d just drive them into the water jump on my sailboat and flee. We watched the fire storm attack from there and it was a monster. At one point I could see 100 foot flames shooting into the sky. I knew the village was in trouble. It was heart wrenching. The sky was an incredibly red color. I started calling people on the other side of the lake. RUN!
After a few hours I think, It was really hard to tell time at this point two incredible men very close to my heart started packing up some stuff and I asked him what they were doing. He said things have calmed down and it’s time to go fight. I said I’m coming with you. We drove up the hill in their truck and jeep. I got out at my place and topped up my tanks, filled up the pump with gas, got the pump and sprinklers running and went over to their place. I don’t want to use any names as the CSRD is still calling us criminals and unwanted guests for protecting our very own and others property.
They had already stopped the fire right above us below Chuck and Linda’s. It was right up against the trailer and could have turned into an inferno which then just grows. We topped up tanks restarted sprinklers and went hunting for fire. We got to Linz and Gillian’s just in time but were very short of water. The flames were licking at their walls, hungry for fuel to expand their destruction. I was shoveling dirt on the fire when like an angel some very knowledgeable firefighting people came up with a water tanker truck and pump from somewhere. It was exactly what we needed to save these peoples home. It took a bit to get the pump started but once we did it was awesome. We put the fire out and saved a home. I believe that if those three buildings would have burned down it would have sent a humongous ember shower down the hill and all of our homes would have been in danger, Chuck and Linda, our homes and all the other homes on Hopwood road. There was nothing but trees and bush between us. Once we got things pretty much under control we tried to get up to the village but were turned back by huge flames just above the bluff roaring across the road. There was, huge flames licking at us as we tried to get through. I think we thought that as we saved Linz and Gillian’s we might be able to do something on the hill. There was no way to get through so headed back to help mop up Linz n Gillian’s place.
As all this was going on more and more people were arriving, all locals ready to fight for our community. After being abandoned by BCWS it was so gratifying to see more and more help arriving. These weren’t people with garden hoses and rakes but knowledgeable men with experience at fighting fires. As the night wore on our communication and leadership became awesome. We had it in good shape and as we left I thought lets try one more shot at the village. We did and we drove through some pretty dicey flames but not nearly as big as in the first attempt. We shot through them and it was all clear up to the village from Terry Dodge’s, but when we pulled into the village road all carnage had let loose. It was the most horrifying thing to see. We could see that Holly’s and my homestead were on fire, basically destroyed and could see that it was an inferno up the road towards Nancy’s . The whole hill was on fire but you could see huge balls of flames that were the homes of our neighbors and friends of many years. We tried to get closer to see if there was any chance but burning wood across the road sent us back to the shop. We were so happy to see that the community centre was still standing but knew nothing was for certain now. We did what we could with sprinklers, filled up pumps and reservoirs and it was so disheartening as I knew our beautiful village was being decimated as we headed back down the mountain. By this time other people were coming out and helping us. All locals. I fought the fire until 6:30 in the morning and then after a few hours’ sleep went back at it. I made a bed for two men very close to me but they never used them. I got a couple hours sleep but they didn’t sleep at all. These men and many others worked for so long to save our community with no thought of reward or compensation. This was true heroism! We had to hit Linz n Gils a couple more times and some friends of a very prominent large contractor came to help on Saturday. You could tell who the fire fighters were because they had dirty jeans and shirts, with faces to match, with hearts of gold and a caring for our community. I still can’t believe how much work was done by our locals to control this fire. We would laugh and describe our dirty jeans, shirts, vests and say that’s how you could identify a fire fighter. They were not the people with full high vis coveralls that look like they just came out of the store and you can usually find them standing around the tanks if they are here. We never saw many until Sunday when I saw one of the many fire teams around. I think it was Tuesday when I first saw one of them spraying water on a fire. I understand that they had to flee when the fire came, their camp had just been decimated. The fire in Kelowna was going crazy, Squilax mountain was on fire. There was basically only us locals and I say this with much reverence, true community heroes. People started appearing with pickup trucks with 1000 litre tanks and pumps and hoses and Nozzles, started fighting the hot spots. It was so gratifying to be part of this effort to save our community. We had communication between us and knowledgeable people to lead us. We had people that were Incident Commanders on other fires, heavy equipment operators that had fought many fires and knew how to build fire breaks, loggers that knew the forest and were dedicated to saving our community. We had what I think is going to change the game of interface firefighting. Heavy duty 4x4s with thousand litre tanks on them with with water pumps, hoses compatible with forestry hoses, nozzles, piss cans, Pulaski’s, shovels, and rakes. These trucks can go to areas where the volunteer fire trucks won’t go, they have orders to not leave the roads but our guys willingly went to the edge to fight this monster. With good pumps these trucks can deliver a thousand litres of water in minutes or if need be turn down their throttles and deliver water for a good sum of time. A truck would go in deliver, it’s load of water and get out and go for another load. I think this should be considered in the new firefighting consideration. I helped build a couple of these trucks and I know they were used extensively all up the north Shuswap.
Then I think it was Saturday afternoon the authorities started trying to restrict supplies to us, threatening us with fines and arrest, putting up roadblocks and restricting any travel by road. The RCMP were stationed at many points to stop all travel between areas.
AND THEN AN AMAZING THING HAPPENED!
All the locals here fighting the fires were supported by all the locals outside the fire zone. We started getting shipments by boat of anything we needed, food, clothing, fuel for vehicles, parts for pumps, pumps, gen sets. All the things we needed to keep fighting. We set up a fire support camp on the beach and whenever something was needed it was given, no questions asked and you knew without a doubt that everything was going to fight that fire. Boats would come to the dock with all manner of supplies, dodging the RCMP boats that were sent out to stop them. I found it so incredibly stupid to spend that amount of resources to stop us from saving our communities with the pretext of stopping looters. Usually looters are taking things away, not bringing in supplies to support the people they love. I was overwhelmed and cried many times with gratitude for the support we got. I met so many fabulous people at my camp.
I have to say at this point that there was a moment that will forever stay with me. It was the moment when on t v a man in a red jumpsuit started telling the public that we were inhibiting their efforts to fight this fire. That because we stayed we were causing more trouble and creating a dangerous situation. I do believe that he was just reading from a teleprompter what his bosses (local government) wrote for him to say. All the people from BCWS, Hydro, local fire departments except for one incident worked with us very well.
The problem was that for us to be in their way they would have had to be here, they weren’t, we were and we saved many homes all up and down this lake. I am so proud to be part of this community and actually not very impressed with the treatment we got for our efforts. This was not just in Lee Creek, all up and down the north shore of the Shuswap, Scotch Creek, Celista, Magna Bay, everywhere were the same dedicated people fighting for their communities
I kept going up to the shop and filling the pump up with gas and reservoir with water and then put out spot fires by the community centre. At one point a lady came up with a fire truck by the community centre. I think it was Monday. I was trying to put out a fire in my hay baler and there was fire all around me. I asked her if she had water in her truck and when she said yes. I then asked her to spray some water on the fire. She kind of hesitated and I asked her if she was with the structural protection unit and she said yes. I then said look, community centre, structure, then pointed to the fire and said fire, how about spraying it down for protection. She finally reluctantly got her helper to spray it down but in reality, she was just there to assess the situation not fight it. I have to say I was a bit peeved. All these millions of dollars of equipment not being used for what they are made for.
Most of my time after Saturday was looking after the camp. It was pretty gratifying to have people come needing things and have it there to give to them. Diesel, gas, food, water, all of it just take what you need and let me know what else you need and we will try to get it to you. It was and still is very magical. Jerry cans of gas and diesel, boxes of food, gloves, granola bars, oil, socks and a wide assortment of things that our locals could think that we might need. We would hand out the fuel for pumps and trucks and they would go to the log dump and fill up with water and go out and kill spot fires, build guards, monitor zones and generally keep this monster in check. When a big problem would happen many hands and equipment would go there and deal with it. I met so many new fabulous people at my camp. Thank you all.
Our large local contractor as per normal was right in the thick of it working like crazy and inspiring everyone else to keep going. We are going to beat this thing. As the rhetoric with the authorities got stupider our resolve got stronger. It was the local knowledgeable experienced leadership we had amongst us that made us such a formidable fighting unit. I give out my undying gratitude to all of us involved.
During this time of incredible solidarity among the locals fighting together, people far away who knew nothing about what the real situation was here started to make very silly, remarks like the locals didn’t know what they were doing and were getting in the way of the BCWS. This was quite bizarre to us as you would have to be here for us to get in your way. We saw very little wild fire people for the first 5 days and those that were here worked I think quite well with the locals. We were all here for the same reason. I believe for the most part the wild fire people were professional and great. I think their leadership was very faulty. I think the people far away making decisions about our situation were like deer in the headlights. Overwhelmed and afraid to make decisions so tried to just stop us. (Nobody moves Nobody gets Hurt). Well this did not go over well with us.
We were threatened with fines and arrest if we left our properties. We looked at each other laughed, said they better have a big jail cause there are a lot of us, we’re not leaving and went back to the war zone.
They then got pretty nasty and put up road blocks at the bridge in Scotch Creek and another at Ross Creek and other zones. This made it hard to interact outside our zone but did not slow us down a bit. This is where our boat heroes came in, they brought supplies to Lee Creek, Scotch Creek, Celista, Magna Bay and where ever it was needed. Somehow being the awesome people, they were, they seemed to hide in plain site and get through. Only stipulation, don’t go on dry land. They would drop it off on our wharfs and we would hoof it up and distribute it to our heroes. I can’t say enough times how privileged I’ve felt to be part of this whole thing. The tired men and women that have been on the fire line breathing in smoke and dirt and coming by the beach with a hug and a laugh ready to go back tomorrow. It has been very gratifying to be part of the team. When I see the Shuswap Strong logo I feel it in my heart and the heart of my community.
I think that the people far away who knew nothing about our situation making decisions finally came to their senses and realized that it would be good to work together. Bravo, it takes intelligence to know when your wrong and change course. We are now, finally, when the shit show is almost over working collaboratively together. A little late but I think because of the solidarity of the North Shuswap we can in the future work more together in the beginning of a crisis. Everyone was overwhelmed by this storm. It was more than anyone could have imagined. We needed people close to the situation that are trusted by the people far away and trusted by the locals to work things out. The problem I think is that when the people far away hesitate, we go our own way to save our future.
I think that when the fire is far away in the forest that is when the BCFS can deal with it on their own but when you have an urban inter face fire that is when you need the locals that are qualified to work together with you. They know the neighborhood, they know where resources are and they care! Many of the locals fighting this fire have fought many fires in the past and know what needs to be done. We just need smarter people that are far away to help supply us or as you can see we will do it ourselves.
They campaigned for us to vote them in as leaders and failed miserably when leadership was needed. It was O K we had real leadership where and when it counted.
When I say the men and women I really mean it. The men worked there ass’s off on the line and I saw a few women there too. But, when you’re at war the support is just as important and we had so much support from everyone. Handing out sandwiches, water and a few high fives. The inspiration of our whole community was phenomenal. I had people come to my beach daily to hand out premade, delicious sandwiches, drinks and fabulous snacks for our people on the line.
As time went on one of our local property managers and her friend continued this with the men on the line, hydro guys and whoever needed something to eat or drink. They were just phenomenal with their work, traffic people and even the cops got their lovely attention. It was one of the sweetest things for these two women to drive up roll down their window and say sandwich, juice, or water. We also have granola bars. Haha, apparently the granola bars were hard to get rid of in the end. I think they melted to easy.
I now want to tell a very sorrowful storey. As we know, once the firestorm has passed, it’s very easy to control it between buildings as long as there is no big wind. And we had no wind. We had locals mopping up a zone around a neighbors place up on Lee Creek Drive when a fire department crew came along and said great we’ll look after this from here. Our locals were very happy to let the professionals take over as they were very tired of working many hours each day from the beginning. After an hour or so this fire crew was seen leaving that premise and we all thought great, looked after by the professionals and moved on to what was next on our agenda. That night that building and another burned to the ground, that should never have happened, no wind, lots of time to deal with hot spots and they left before it was looked after. I do not believe that house would have burned down if locals had finished the job. Now another person has lost their home from incompitance of your professionals that you said we were in the way of. I wonder what the fellow in the red jumpsuit on t v would have to say about that. I hope that you armchair people will start thinking differently in the future and listening to the locals in times of crisis. You have shown us that you are not competent on your own so a little humility and intelligence would now go a long way to heal the rift between us.
LETS START WORKING TOGETHER!!!
Things have settled down at the supply camp, we are not out of danger yet but we have so much more support from bcws and a lot of our guys have gone and done the wildfire course.
It seems that the people far away making decisions because they don’t know what’s going on here on the ground are starting to listen to people that do know what’s going on. I’m happy they are starting to listen. We still have lots of activity but feel that there is finally a bcws and local fire fighter presence that can take some of the work load off of the very tired local hero’s and I can’t say hero’s enough. From Lee Creek to Magna Bay we had brave committed people looking to take care of their communities.
There are too many people to thank individually but you all know who you are and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart and for our whole community.
I would also like to take this last moment to thank the one CSRD person that didn’t abandon us. Thank you for standing tall with us, I can’t say how much I and I’m sure many others on the North Shuswap appreciate you.
A newcomer to the North Shuswap
Only been here 52 years but so proud to be part of
“SHUSWAP STRONG “
Love you all.
Barry Warkentin
