BEPPLE – When the wildfire evacuation order comes, leave

WILDFIRES ARE all around us. In every direction from Kamloops, there is fire.

It’s not just that the fire is all around us. People we know in all directions are being impacted.

Already this season, people I know in Knutsford, Adams Lake and Gunn Lake have been forced out of their homes by evacuation orders. We all know someone.

Fire is everywhere. We all know someone on evacuation alert or evacuation order. Maybe even someone who has lost a home.

These are difficult times to live in the B.C. Interior.

Firefighting is a demanding, dangerous job. Three young firefighters, plus a pilot, have already died so far this season in Canada trying to keep everyone safer. Two of those were here in B.C..

Every firefighter going out on a fire line, either as a wildfire crew in the bush, or as part of a local fire detachment protecting buildings, puts their lives on the line. Every firefighter takes on risks, not for their benefit, but for all of us.

Firefighting can be a deadly job.

So it was sobering to read the account in Castanet of Osoyoos Fire Rescue Chief Corey Kortmeyer of this weekend’s fire in Osoyoos. The massive fire exploded across the Canada-U.S. border and came within meters of houses. The town’s fire rescue service worked with wildfire crews to successfully defend the town. No structures were lost.

The massive fire was within inches of the town, but the firefighters prevailed.

But Kortmeyer’s focus was not on the success of their fire fighting, but on how difficult the work was for his crew because of the people who defied the evacuation orders. Instead of defending structures, the crews were working to protect the lives of people who refused to leave when given an evacuation order.

Kortmeyer said, “When you’re just dealing with property as compared to property and lives, it places additional stress and pressure on crews to make sure there’s not a loss of human life.”

He went on to say, “I don’t think people actually understand the consequences to first responders in that situation. At the end of the day, homes can be rebuilt, but families cannot.”

An already dangerous, potentially deadly situation was made worse by people who refused to leave when given an evacuation order.

The fire season is just getting started. More difficult times are ahead.

More of us will be threatened by fire, more of us will be given evacuation orders to leave where we live.

Let’s not make things even worse by putting firefighters in more danger. Their job can be deadly. Let’s not increase the risk for them by forcing them to defend people who did not evacuate a fire zone.

When the evacuation order comes, leave. Make a plan now for where you’ll go. Pack a grab and go bag. When the order comes, get out.

It’s been too deadly of a fire season already.