By Chad Klassen

Mayor of 100 Mile House says a ‘thank you’ isn’t enough after Kamloops’ effort during fires

May 15, 2018 | 4:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — The mayor of 100 Mile House says a ‘thank you’ for the help provided by the City of Kamloops and the thousands of volunteers during last summer’s wildfires isn’t quite enough.

But Mitch Campsall was in front of city council on Tuesday, reaffirming his appreciation for everything the city did to help his people. 

Campsall got emotional during his speech to council, reflecting on the hardships his community endured during wildfire evacuations and not knowing what 100 Mile House would look like when they returned. During his visit to City Hall, Campsall also presented a commemorative plaque to mayor Ken Christian and councillor Arjun Singh, who was the deputy mayor during the wildfires. 

“Kamloops opened up their arms and were absolutely amazing,” says Campsall about the warm hospitality offered by the city last summer. “I’m still hearing about it, hearing good stories about the businesses, the people of Kamloops, the First Nations, just about everyone in this community. It’s been an absolutely amazing year. It’s been a tough one.”

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“If we didn’t get the help from Kamloops, where would our people go, what would they have done? We would have been in a totally bad situation. There’s nothing to describe how bad it would have been for us. So yeah, we really do appreciate Kamloops.”

Campsall says the recovery in 100 Mile House is still going on after businesses lost essential revenues due to the fire.

“We’re doing quite well. We didn’t lose anything in 100 Mile, although our businesses suffered,” he notes. “Most of our small businesses need the summer to make it through the winter. We didn’t get the summer because we were in turmoil pretty well all summer.”

Campsall notes and as fire season approaches, the anxiety levels in the community are increasing due to last year’s experiences of evacuation.