(Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

shetland creek wildfire

Weary Ashcroft residents face third major wildfire threat in 7 years

Jul 22, 2024 | 12:30 PM

KAMLOOPS – Cheryl Wigemyr says she has been ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice since 2017, when the Elephant Hill wildfire ripped through the area.

“I’ve actually had a bag [packed] since 2017,” said Wigemyr, who lives at the Ashcroft Ranch with her husband, Todd, the ranch’s manager. “That bag’s been easy to grab since then because we’ve had a few scares every year.”

In the past seven years, the Village of Ashcroft has seen three major wildfire threats.

“This is our third major fire now since 2017, so people are taking it seriously,” said Ashcroft Mayor Barbara Roden. “They know what to do and, you know, life goes on. People are watching what’s happening, obviously, they’re concerned. But the highway stayed open, businesses are still open.”

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(On Sunday, officials closed the Trans Canada Highway between Ashcroft and Spences Bridge.)

On Friday, the village was put on evacuation alert as firefighters battle the Shetland Creek wildfire burning about nine kilometres southwest of Ashcroft.

“It’s a little unnerving, but it’s not really that crazy,” said long-term Ashcroft resident Rob Suter, describing the evacuation alert. “I’m thinking, ‘Well, okay, it’s an alert,’ but we don’t have to get crazy about it.”

According to Roden, residents understand why the village enacted the alert.

“It’s an excessive caution,” said the mayor. “By declaring an evacuation alert, you’re giving people a chance to be prepared to put together those grab-and-go bags, put their precious keepsakes into a box, ready to go.”

Many Ashcroft residents consider themselves veterans when it comes to fire season and having a go-bag ready is nothing new.

“We lived in the Okanagan. We were there for the 1994 fire and we were also there for the 2003 wildfire,” said Lone Jones, who now lives in Ashcroft. “We were here by the time the last one went up. I feel a little bit seasoned, actually.”

If anything, residents say they feel more prepared this year.

“In 2017, it just went so fast that we didn’t have time [to pack before being evacuated],” Wigemyr said, adding this year she feels more prepared. “Before I was just grabbing whatever, and this time I got to think about it and knew what I was doing.”

Mayor Roden says that’s the silver lining that comes with an evacuation alert.

“It gives people something to do, it gives them a sense of control over something that they can’t really control,” said Roden. “None of us can go out there and stop the fire – we can’t go there and fight it. But what you can do is put stuff together that is important to you that you want to take with you and have it ready.”

For many Ashcroft residents who are packed and worked on FireSmarting their homes, the only thing left to do is wait.

“I think we just have to keep our ears and eyes open and if it comes close, and then we have to act and leave,” said Sutter. “Other than that, I think we just should take the easy and relaxed, you know?”