‘Clinton Strong’: Village rallies community behind Pear Lake wildfire recovery fund after weeks of uncertainty

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“There were well over 250 people who attended [the breakfast]. We actually ran out of food,” laughed Roland Stanke, the mayor of Clinton. “It feels good to see so many different people coming out.”

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As of Monday (Sept. 14), the Pear Lake fire is officially deemed under control at 1,659 sq. kilometres (165,909.4 hectares), a little over a week after it was classified as being held. A number of residents who returned home to Clinton on Aug. 15, arrived to see more than 100 structures destroyed.

No houses were lost within the village’s limits, though two commercial properties were.

“When everybody got evacuated here towards the end of July, and then coming back, and you don’t know what you are coming home to… you’re driving in from the south-end and you see all that devastation and say, ‘What am I going to face?”

Though as the flames’ damage crossed boundaries, so did the response.

“The community stayed very strong,” George Jennings told the CFJC Today team Saturday (Sept. 12), the stewardship and lands manager of High Bar First Nation. “As you see today, it’s not just one aspect of community. It’s all of the community. From the village of Clinton, High Bar First Nation, Whispering Pines, the regional district.”

Saturday’s gathering also raised money through the Clinton Food Bank. The Wildfire Recovery Fund is aiming at $500,000 to support their affected neighbors and businesses, with every dollar remaining local.

“The path forward is through music, through coming together, through food, through the basic things that we share, which is a common interest for this land, for being here and for protecting it going forward.” adds Jennings.

Though, despite the winding-down wildfire season, experts are cautioning the expectation of burns continuing into late fall.

As of Sept. 14, the BC Wildfire Service has 102 listed active wildfires, with only three being sparked within the last 24 hours, with 48 locations declared out in the last week. No fires are staged as “out of control.”