‘I’m describing it as a nightmare’: Pear Lake wildfire evacuees find refuge in Kamloops

“On the way up, it wasn’t windy. It was actually a normal, beautiful day,” she said. “This terrible wind came. We could see it balloon up and it [the Fiftynine Creek wildfire smoke cloud] was like Hiroshima. It was just horrible.”

On the drive down the mountain, Patterson noticed small smoke plumes on the southeast side of Pear Lake, not too far from her home.

“You could see the wind was stirring it and then it just exploded right in front of our eyes,” she said.

The Fiftynine Creek and Pear Lake wildfires have merged and been mapped at more than 115,000 hectares.

“I’m describing it as a nightmare,” Patterson said. “I feel like I’m waking up in a nightmare. I wake up screaming and hollering. It’s just stressful.”

Patterson said her husband, Marc, stayed at their Pear Lake Road home and saved it, with help from firefighters.

She has been a nomad since evacuating.

Patterson said she dropped off her two dogs at her sister’s property in Loon Lake and went to stay with a friend in Clinton.

Both the Loon Lake and Clinton properties were later evacuated. Patterson moved on to Kamloops and sought help at the Mac Isle reception centre.

With ESS help, she has stayed at the Best Western Plus and Coast Kamloops hotels.

Hotel accommodation was scarce in the city over the B.C. Day long weekend.

“It’s a fine balance for hoteliers to cancel rooms for paying customers who are coming up to enjoy the Okanagan experience, but also while weighing and trying to be a good team member within Kamloops and offering some of their rooms for supports,” said Will Beatty, City of Kamloops Emergency Operations Centre Director.

“I again urge people to get connected to the BC Services app, have your grab-and-go bag ready and make sure that you do have a plan in place that could potentially lessen the impact on the hoteliers in Kamloops by staying with a family member or friend that is close by and not ordered to evacuate.”

Beatty said the reception centre handled about 350 files over the long weekend. He said about six to 10 evacuees stayed in group lodging (such as the beds at the Mac Isle reception centre) within city limits.

Patterson’s husband has joined her in Kamloops. Marc has been sleeping with the dogs in the back of their truck for the last few nights, as their hotel room is not pet friendly.

That arrangement will change soon.

“Now we’re going to Lac Le Jeune,” Patterson said. “We’re in a cabin. Some very kind people agreed with ESS that we could stay there with our dogs until we go home. We’re very grateful to everybody. I’m aware we’re more fortunate some others.”

by Marty Hastings

‘I’m describing it as a nightmare’: Pear Lake wildfire evacuees find refuge in Kamloops

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