(Slocan) The mayor of Slocan, B.C., said the sky was covered in ominous black smoke as she left her community, which is now under evacuation orders due to two wildfires.
Jessica Lunn said most of Slocan’s roughly 370 residents had already left by Sunday morning as she and her family evacuated and firefighters set up sprinklers to protect structures and prepared to pump water from the nearby lake.
“I drove around the community, through the village, to look, and most of the people had left by then,” she said.
“And it seemed, you know, like there was this quiet, eerie feeling of thick, very thick smoke.”
The Central Kootenay Regional District announced Saturday night that the evacuation order would take effect Sunday morning after firefighters warned that a warming and drying trend in the region meant fires in the area would see increased activity.
A statement from the Central Kootenay Regional District said the unique topography of the area, 370 kilometres east of Kelowna, presents “significant safety challenges” and predicted fire behaviour led officials to recommend the evacuation order.
It covers all 208 properties in the village and 309 properties in the surrounding area.
For Mayor Jessica Lunn, being able to warn people was the silver lining. The warning helped officials organize a bus for those who needed it to take them to an evacuation centre in Castlegar, B.C., she said.
“It gave the community some time to prepare, although most families and individuals already had a plan in place because we were on (evacuation) alert,” she said.
Dan Elliott, the regional district’s information officer, warned that the Ponderosa and Mulvey Creek wildfires are burning on both sides of Slocan.
“While this is an extremely stressful, scary, frustrating and emotional time, the community has really come together to try to support each other,” he said.
“Whether it’s helping with transportation, taking care of animals or anything else they can do for each other.”
Elliott said the latest evacuation orders were part of a series of orders in effect across the regional district that affect a total of 1,026 properties.
The BC Wildfire Service says 128 firefighters are working to combat the 10 wildfires in the Slocan Lake Complex.
An online statement said crews are digging and using chainsaws to establish control lines in areas where heavy machinery cannot operate.
Mme Lunn admitted the situation felt surreal and she hoped the winds would stay calm and rain would come.
“No matter which way the wind blows, it affects someone. What we need is rain, water and calm, without wind.”
The evacuations came as cool, wet weather helped fight fires in other parts of the province.
A province-wide situation update released Sunday by the BC Wildfire Service indicates risk levels have decreased in other areas of B.C., and there are 372 wildfires burning in the province, 177 of which are classified as out of control.