Merritt residents prepare as Ainslie Creek Wildfire continues to force evacuation orders, alerts

For Bradder, ‘being ready’ means knowing what cannot be replaced.

“Photographs. So we have all of our photographs packaged. We have all of our important papers.” Bradder adds.

Beyond the items package at home, volunteer firefighters are preparing to protect the community and the Upper Nicola.

“Having the fire right there on our doorstep was kind of kicked us into high gear in that sense.” says Bryce Tom, a volunteer fire fighter in the Upper Nicola.

But for Bryce, preparation does not ease the uncertainty surrounding the fire.

“It’s been kind of like really hit and miss with people being evacuated and coming back and forth. It’s a bit of a scary thing sometimes, you know, with the fire right there.” he adds.

The calm in Merritt doesn’t mean the danger has passed, with crews expecting more challenging fire behavior Thursday and working to keep the eastern flank from spreading towards communities and highway five.

So far, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) says there have been no reported structure losses from the fire.

“We do have about 118 properties on evacuation order. About half of those are, west of Merritt in the Spius Creek and Petit Creek area, and the other half is more down Coldwater Road south of Merritt and then we have, a little more than 840 properties on evacuation alert spread out through the area.” says Colton Davies, spokesperson for the TNRD.

But for some families west of Merritt, the situation has already changed more than once. Forced out, allowed home and then ordered to leave again.

Davis says officials are watching the weather and working with B.C. Wildfire Service as conditions evolve.

“There are some folks west of Merritt who were on order for eight days, off of order for about 5 or 6 days and have been on order now for almost a week. So definitely a tough situation to be on order, especially when you were off and could go back home and now have to leave again.”

The alerts remain in place and for now, residents are being told to keep their essentials packed and their information current, and on hand.

The city will host a drop in wildfire information session at the Merritt Civic Center on the evening of August 18th, starting at 5 P.M. through 7 P.M., giving people a chance to ask questions while the community waits for its next answer.

by Jeremy Russo

Merritt residents prepare as Ainslie Creek Wildfire continues to force evacuation orders, alerts

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