By Chad Klassen

Resident of Boston Flats trailer park reacts to seeing devastation

Jul 11, 2017 | 5:00 PM

ASHCROFT, B.C. — Driving into the Boston Flats trailer park in between Ashcroft and Cache Creek, it doesn’t take much to notice the devastation — an entire complex wiped out by the Ashcroft Reserve wildfire that swept through there, leaving families without a home.

“Going into the park and seeing the burning, then the shock. It’s hard to believe that it happened so fast,” said Boston Flats resident Sherrie Fraser, who got to tour the property on Tuesday with other homeowners. 

Horrific images of burnt out vehicles, flattened mobile homes that are now down to rubble. Fraser’s unit is one of the few intact. 

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“I really don’t feel lucky. I feel spared but I don’t feel lucky,” she said. “It makes me feel bad for the others that didn’t have anything left and what they’ve lost.”

There are still a few hot spots at the trailer court, and authorities are keeping a close eye on it. Residents were allowed by in on Tuesday to see the destruction first-hand.

“Now we have more closure I think. For a lot of them, it’s closure,” said Fraser. “But still, it’s a waiting game. But everyone was in great spirits and everyone was helping everyone else. We did a lot of taking and all the neighbours were supporting each other, which was heartwarming.”

The B.C. Wildfire Service took the tour by the Sage & Sands trailer park in Cache Creek — a story of firefighting heroics. The trailer park was saved thanks to air crews laying down retardant.

“Lots of smoke, people fleeing from the area. Evacuations occurred. And what the B.C. Wildfire Service would’ve been doing is trying to prioritize where we would put our effort and try to protect home and property,” said Mike McCulley from the B.C. Wildfire Service. 

“In my mind, this is a great reflection, amid some of the chaos that we’re seeing, this year in B.C., of the hard work that our air and ground crews do every day to try and protect life and property.”

Boston Flats wasn’t as lucky, and once the fire threat in the region disipates, the rebuild will begin.

“They’re talking about rebuilding and we have a place when we rebuild, which is awesome because we were unsure about that. That gives us a sense of the future, which is what we needed to hear,” noted Fraser.