More than 100 wildfires continue to burn through the southern half of British Columbia on Friday morning, with about 18,900 people under evacuation order and another 10,000 on evacuation alert, say the B.C Wildfire Service.
The largest fire is the Pear Lake wildfire near Clinton, which had burned through 1,574 square kilometres as of Thursday night. In the Fraser Canyon, the Brunswick Creek fire complex around Boston Bar had grown to more than 700 square kilometres.
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Highway 97 between Penticton and Peachland, including through Summerland, reopened in a limited capacity on Thursday.
As communities across the province respond to the fires, residents have also stepped up to support people displaced by the evacuations.
Rev. Keri Wehlander of Oasis United Church in Penticton said the community quickly mobilized to help evacuees, with the local Sikh temple preparing daily hot meals and businesses offering free food.
“We began to spread the word that Oasis offers food hampers, clothing and toiletries,” Wehlander said, adding that the church also made its parking lot available to anyone who needed it.
Volunteers created an online message board to connect people who could offer help with those in need, while veterinarians provided free services and pet stores donated food for evacuees with animals.
Other sites in B.C. collected clothing, toiletries, toys and snacks, while a local school became a comfort centre where evacuees could cool off, shower, eat and give children a place to play.
“I even saw a small lemonade stand on the street where children were trying to raise money for evacuees,” Wehlander said.
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Summerland, a town of 20,000, was placed under evacuation order after the fire jumped the highway to its north, sending most residents to Penticton, a city of nearly 40,000. Wehlander described the scene at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre, where evacuees registered, as “a mixture of chaos and great kindness all at once” — people carrying crates of cats, dogs walking alongside their families, and a man who arrived with seven goats.
By Saturday, part of Penticton itself was under evacuation alert — some of the same volunteers helping evacuees were also packing their own grab-and-go bags.
Naramata Centre, a United Church learning and retreat centre, issued a statement on August 8 cancelling its summer programming to make room for evacuees needing temporary housing.
“This is a hard morning in the valley. Summerland is empty. Whole streets of people we know left their houses in the dark, and this morning many of them do not know what they will go home to. Fifteen of them came to us in the middle of the night. More are on their way today. We have said for a long time that we are here for our neighbours. This morning our neighbours need somewhere to sleep. There are times when we are called to be in service, and we believe this is one of them,” the statement read.
Earlier this week, the centre issued an appeal for donations, saying the wildfires are having a “six-figure impact” on its finances this year. Donations can be made through the Canada Helps website.
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Rimsha Nasir is an intern at Broadview.
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