Devastating Fires

[HAH]

It’s just horrendous, I’m sorry we can’t do much but wring our hands and offer sympathy as well as keep up the pressure on politicians to take this all seriously. If there is any material help please let us know, and keep sharing when you can x

 

[Kelsey]

Sounds awful Kelsey.
Not much we can do I know (apart maybe for Lisa) but if you can, keep us updated so we know you are safe x

@Lisa Was very very kind and has offered a safe place for me if things get bad.
It was a long night, I was up every hour but I am still ok and safe. Just before 1AM part of my neighbourhood went on alert, it's about a 7 minute drive from me, so not super close, but close enough I was constantly up checking to see if I was next! So far so good, we had much cooler temperatures over night, so I hope that helps

 

[Jacqui-S]

 

[Cath]

Please rain

 

[MellowYellow]

Thinking of you Kelsey...

 

[Lab_adore]

Are you ok @Kelsey&Axel?

 

[Kelsey]

Yes @Lab_adore thank you for asking Currently cuddling with Gizmo on my couch. Today was a much calmer day for the fires, cooler temps and hardly any wind, so firefighters were able to start making actual plans to try and stop it spreading further into the city. Let’s hope it continues like this!

Currently 35,000 people are evacuated from the near by fires. Homes have been lost by all three fires within my city, they aren’t sure how many have been lost total, that will probably take some time. We are not to drink the water, it’s severely contaminated, not even boiling it will make it safe, not sure how long that will go on for but I imagine weeks Travel band is in place, so no more tourists (I live in a very high tourist spot), essential travel here only. So while today was a calmer day it’s still very much a state of emergency. My heart breaks for those who have lost their homes and everything in it. But most importantly no lives have been lost

My heart also aches for all the displaced wildlife running for their lives, searching for food and water. Many of us have been leaving out fresh water for them to try and help. On peoples doorbell cameras you can see the bears and deer wandering the neighbourhoods

 

[SwampDonkey]

Stay safe

 

[Atemas]

@Lisa Was very very kind and has offered a safe place for me if things get bad.

 

[Cath]

x

 

[Jacqui-S]

Glad to hear your update Kelsey.....at least the bit about you and Gizmo being safe at home. The rest is just incomprehensible.
Was watching coverage on the news last night....

 

[Granca]

Stay safe, @Kelsey&Axel.

 

[kateincornwall]

In my thoughts @Kelsey&Axel , please take care and stay safe . Poor animals

 

[Candy]

Hoping for more rain and cooler weather for you Kelsey, stay safe, thinking about you, wish there was something we could do to help.

 

[Stacia]

Where do all the displaced people go? How dreadful for them to lose their homes. How are you managing for drinking water and even water for washing etc? It must be so sad as well, seeing the escaping animals. I do hope the weather will calm down and plans can be made to stop the fire spreading further. it is beyond comprehension.

 

[Kelsey]

Where do all the displaced people go? How dreadful for them to lose their homes. How are you managing for drinking water and even water for washing etc? It must be so sad as well, seeing the escaping animals. I do hope the weather will calm down and plans can be made to stop the fire spreading further. it is beyond comprehension.

They have opened up recreation centres and our stadium for people to sleep by setting up cots, many are sleeping in their cars apparently in parking lots. A lot of local small restaurants are donating food, plus people in general are donating food and water abundantly to these shelters, as well to all firefighters and police officers. A lot of people have opened up their homes and welcomed strangers in, or made their RVs available for people to stay in, as well as people with huge properties have welcomed as many RVs they can hold along with horses and other farm animals. Everyone is helping out any way they can, it’s heart warming to see how everyone pulls together in a community during horrible times.

We have running tap water still, so I can still shower and wash laundry and dishes. Just can’t consume any of it. We are being asked to limit uses of water to keep the pressure for the fire hoses strong, and of course to not fully empty the reservoir. And absolutely no outdoor water to be used to help with that.

They did a live update this morning and things are looking up, the calmer weather has made for fire lines to be created to help keep the fire from destroying more homes. It’s still so smoky so it’s very hard to estimate the size of the fire as well as the number of structures lost. But I have seen several videos and some neighbourhoods are destroyed completely But while some are lost, many more have been saved.

We have 500 firefighters working on the fire today, have had fire fighters coming in from all over to help so our teams can also catch a break, many have been working 47 hour shifts Beyond grateful for all of them

Embers are still flying across the highway to my side of the city, causing spot fires but so far they have been taken care of quickly!

But today should be another good day on the fire line and hopefully tomorrow will be too! The bonus of it being so smoky… it’s really kept the suns heat out… so it’s been cool and humidity has been up which both are very helpful!

 

[Stacia]

@Kelsey&Axel, it is so good that people pull together and care for each other. But in the long term it will be difficult for those who have lost their homes, it just doesn't bear thinking about. I do so hope weather conditions remain favourable to defeat these fires.

 

[Lisa]

So great to hear things calmed down. Hopefully that will continue. I feel so sad for those who have lost their homes. So awful. My sister got back in her condo today, phew. They are still in the midst of getting their new house ready to move in, which is tricky in the midst of all this!

In the meantime, there’s concern that the fires in the Yukon might flare up again. Lots of evacuees from Yellowknife here in Alberta. So much stress all around!!

 

[Kelsey]

So great to hear things calmed down. Hopefully that will continue. I feel so sad for those who have lost their homes. So awful. My sister got back in her condo today, phew. They are still in the midst of getting their new house ready to move in, which is tricky in the midst of all this!

In the meantime, there’s concern that the fires in the Yukon might flare up again. Lots of evacuees from Yellowknife here in Alberta. So much stress all around!!

Great news for your sister! I saw one evacuation order was lifted in Kelowna so that must have been hers

So scary for Yellowknife also like you said, so much stress all around. My friend lost their cabin on the Shuswap yesterday, their neighbour fought the fire as long as he could with a hose and sprinklers on several cabins until the very last second and the flames took over. He fled on boat and watched the cabins burn

 

[Lisa]

Great news for your sister! I saw one evacuation order was lifted in Kelowna so that must have been hers

So scary for Yellowknife also like you said, so much stress all around. My friend lost their cabin on the Shuswap yesterday, their neighbour fought the fire as long as he could with a hose and sprinklers on several cabins until the very last second and the flames took over. He fled on boat and watched the cabins burn

That would be so hard. I guess they can at least know they did what they could. But it’s so sad. There will be lots of structures lost in and around Kelowna, unfortunately. And I also feel for the farmers and ranchers with horses and cattle who are in the midst of all this. We saw that here, too. It’s one thing for a household to evacuate with pets, but what if you had a dozen horses? Or a hundred cattle? You can’t get them loaded on trailers very quickly.