July 7 - the fires begin
It is a little exciting to watch a forest fire start - exciting as in “intense”.
About a quarter to four in the afternoon of July 7, a little storm cell blew through Little Fort. I was working at Jim’s Food Market at the time. From start to finish, the storm lasted maybe 10-12 minutes.
Lots of wind, a tiny bit of rain, and - unfortunately - some lightning. That lightning started several fires in the area, two visible from the store.
By 4 p.m., customers coming in the store were reporting that they could either see flames or smoke, depending on which way they were looking.
Just to the north of the store (and to the north of the ferry crossing), on the hill on the opposite side of the river, a tree was on fire!
Just to the south of the store, across the highway and on the far side of the hill behind the Jim farm, a plume of smoke!
One employee texted the Little Fort Fire Chief, Kam Jim, while I (supposedly on my break) phoned it in to Forestry. I was on hold for a while, and once through explained as best as I could exactly where the fires were.
The wind, luckily, was sort of north westerly, that is, blowing the fire and smoke north and west. The fire across the river was headed away from us at a rather alarming rate, and was burning down the hill towards the river as well.
The fire to the south was harder to judge, because (thank goodness) no flame were visible, just smoke. As time went by, there was more and more smoke, but no flames were visible from the store till around 7 p.m.
Of course, Little Fort wasn’t the only town battling a fire. At 100 Mile House they were first under an evacuation alert, and then an evacuation order. Towns north of 100 Mile had already been told to evacuate, and highway 24 was the only way out for most, so the store was getting more and more traffic.
I can’t remember exactly when, but both the fire department and the police came and asked if we would please consider staying open longer (the store normally closes at 9:30 p.m.). My co-worker, Chery Nelson, and I both agreed to stay as long as we were needed.
A bit later, we heard from various sources that the Barriere gas stations had no more fuel, and Clearwater was almost out - this meant we had the only fuel for those trying to get out of the valley.
We ended up staying open until 12:30 a.m.
July 8
Day two of the Little Fort fires is a little calmer. A ton of smoke everywhere, and hardly any flames to be seen.
One of the firefighters who came through the store said that the fire to the south was being held pretty much at the top of the ridge, and was just “creeping” there, but had taken off a bit to the west. The fire to the north, across the river, was just smoldering in the areas that you could see from the store and from the ferry landing.
Last night, most of Little Fort was on evacuation alert, with just a few areas on evacuation order.
Today, most of Little Fort is now on evacuation order, but the store is being kept open as there are still evacuees from other communities trying to get through, and the fire department and police also need fuel.
Partly due to the evacuation order, the Subway at Jim’s Food Market was closed all day… most of the staff were unable to come in. One Subway employee did make it in in the morning, and made up a large number (around 80 or so) of pre-made sandwiches which were put into the store’s dairy cooler. These were sold out long before noon.
Business was brisk for the store, lots of evacuees and firefighters coming through - in both directions.
One customer bought several six packs of water and said to please hand them out to any emergency workers who might come through the store. People are wonderful!
The police and fire department asked us again to be ready to stay a bit longer in the evening. Turns out things were quiet enough that we closed the doors at 10 p.m.
July 9
The weather can make such a difference. Saturday, there was almost no wind all day, hence the smoky pictures. Sunday - arriving at Little Fort there was very little haze and you could see where the hot-spots were on the hills.
To the north and across the river - that one has spread a lot. Instead of just one hill smoking away, now there are several hills smoking away. For the most part, no visible flame (at least, not from the store), except every once in a while you can catch a glimpse of it. And it has spread in all directions… hills both to the north and south (mostly north) of the original spot are now smoking.
To the south, that one has visibly spread to the next hill to the south. It has also spread towards the west, according to some of the reports we were getting, but from the store you can’t tell.
Lots of people are still moving through, some trying to get to Prince George or other points north, and many heading south to Kamloops or the lower mainland, trying to get away from the fires.
In the afternoon - I hadn’t been at work very long (my shift starts at 2 p.m.) - we got the word that they had just hit the south fire with a whole bunch of water bombers. I looked out the window, and did see two bombers making a pass (but wasn’t fast enough to get the camera out). They apparently made a bunch of drops and that, hopefully, this would get this particular fire under control…. weather permitting.
As long as that wind stays away, they have a chance.
Now, Jim’s Food Market usually closes at 9:30 p.m. While we were willing to stay on if asked, as of 9:30, no-one had said anything, so we (my co-worker and I) set about locking the doors, securing the tills, and doing the usual shut-down routine.
Just minutes before we were ready to leave, we get the call - “Please reopen the store, 100 Mile House is being evacuated, people will need gas.”. Ack! Okay, put the tills back together, get the coffee back on, and start rolling up a few windows and the front door. We finally shut down (again) at 1:30 p.m., when the flow of traffic had settled down to a trickle.
Will have to see what happens tomorrow (Monday).
July 10
Monday morning I didn’t get up until about 10:30 a.m., so that was about seven and a half hours sleep... not bad. The sky outside wasn’t quite as thick with smoke as Saturday, but was rather hazy and you could definitely smell the smoke here in Barriere.
On the drive in to Little Fort the smoke only got thicker and it got harder to see the distant hills. Because of the smoke, it was hard to tell which hills were smoldering and which weren’t. In the distance, as I walked from the car to the store, I could hear the sound of at least one helicopter.
All day, everytime I looked outside, only smoke was visible, no flames. The wind -mostly- cooperated and was quite light. Every so often it would give a gust or two, and then die back down.
The fire on the hills to the south of the store now appears, just from the volume of smoke, to be burning more on the one the most to the south. By the time we shut the doors at 9:30 p.m., you could start to see actual flames (not good!) and the wind was picking up a little. Hopefully the wind will die down again and the firefighters will have a quiet night... at least, one can hope.
I really appreciate all the hard work that the firefighters do to try to keep our communities safe. They don’t get to sleep much, as they have to check every couple of hours to see if the fire lines have started to move or not. Thank you all, so very, very much!
Day 4
Monday morning I didn’t get up until about 10:30 a.m., so that was about seven and a half hours sleep... not bad. The sky outside wasn’t quite as thick with smoke as Saturday, but was rather hazy and you could definitely smell the smoke here in Barriere.
On the drive in to Little Fort the smoke only got thicker and it got harder to see the distant hills. Because of the smoke, it was hard to tell which hills were smoldering and which weren’t. In the distance, as I walked from the car to the store, I could hear the sound of at least one helicopter.
All day, everytime I looked outside, only smoke was visible, no flames. The wind -mostly- cooperated and was quite light. Every so often it would give a gust or two, and then die back down.
The fire on the hills to the south of the store now appears, just from the volume of smoke, to be burning more on the one the most to the south. By the time we shut the doors at 9:30 p.m., you could start to see actual flames (not good!) and the wind was picking up a little. Hopefully the wind will die down again and the firefighters will have a quiet night... at least, one can hope.
I really appreciate all the hard work that the firefighters do to try to keep our communities safe. They don’t get to sleep much, as they have to check every couple of hours to see if the fire lines have started to move or not. Thank you all, so very, very much!