Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Amandalina Letterio

WILDFIRES

Logan Lake evacuees find refuge at Tk’emlúps Powwow grounds, hope fire guard will save homes

Aug 13, 2021 | 4:48 PM

LOGAN LAKE, B.C — Roughly 1,100 Logan Lake properties have been evacuated after the Tremont Creek wildfire started moving closer to the community on Thursday (Aug. 12).

The fire grew 8,000 hectares in the last 48 hours — now sitting at over 41,000 hectares.

Logan Lake evacuees, Cathy and David Inkster, told CFJC News they had three hours to grab their things and get out.

“A lot of smoke and ash that’s coming down, it got pretty dark too with all the smoke. I was a little nervous there,” Cathy Inkster described the scene in Logan Lake before she left.

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With most places full of evacuees, the couple didn’t know where to go. So they headed to Kamloops and hoped for the best.

“Then I remembered the Powow Centre. I’ve seen that on the fire smart apps and stuff like that and I thought, ‘We’re just going to go there. They take good care of you,’ so that’s where we went,” she said.

Logan Lake was on evacuation alert for almost two weeks, which allowed the Highland Valley Copper mine to prepare for the order. It’s the community’s biggest employer — and according to the mayor, right now it’s operating with a skeleton crew.

“There is still a lot of local people that do work there and are employed there. So it’s going to be a lot tougher for them to operate I think,” said Robin Smith, mayor of Logan Lake.

“Always concerning – when you have a wildfire in your backyard and you know that it’s there, it’s always concerning,” Smith continued.

Logan Lake is a fire safe community. Most properties have a sprinkler installed on the roof and the district has been fire guarded.

The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is burning around 6 kilometres away, but there’s a thin veil of confidence knowing the area is protected.

“Fire smarting can make a huge difference on if your home survives a wildfire or not. So Logan Lake has taken really great steps to put themselves in a much safer position,” said Erin Bull, fire information officer at the BC Wildfire Service.

The Inksters are feeling optimistic too.

“I think our towns still going to be there when we get back. They did so much with that guard, cleaning up all around Logan Lake, I think we’ll be fine,” said Inkster.