Worried and Scared, Rock Creek Evacuees Share Their Stories

UPDATE: the Lumby evacuation centre has been closed. Both the Kelowna and Midway evacuation centres are still open.

Original Story:

“It just became a complete wall of flames and took the whole damn valley out,” said Rob Hardy, a resident of Westbridge and an evacuee of the Rock Creek fire.

It’s been a very trying and difficult Friday morning at the evacuation centre in Kelowna, as residents from the southeast corner of the province earnestly try to reach their loved ones and await further information on the status of their homes.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com.

The now 2,500 hectare wildfire burning near Rock Creek has forced hundreds and hundreds of residents from their homes. Managing to grab a few personal items, if any at all, evacuees fleeing the wildfire region have been advised to travel to either Midway, Kelowna, or Lumby.

Resident of Westbridge Rob Hardy said the wildfire spread so fast that he barely had time to save his animals before fleeing.

“I stayed at my place right until the bitter end. The fire was coming up the back yard and they cut the power off, so I lost all my sprinklers. We were essentially just forced out,” said a distraught Hardy. “I was so busy in the yard trying to save everything that by the time I wanted to go into the house to grab what I should have, they wouldn’t allow me back in the house. By then it was too late.”

After calling a friend in Rock Creek at around 1:30 in the afternoon, Hardy said the wildfire billowed up through the rear of his property in a matter of 45 minutes. The distance between the campground where the fire was originally burning and Hardy’s home is approximately seven kilometres.

Photo Credit: contributed.

Debbie Smith is an employee at the Old Cowboy Ranch in Westbridge, which is about three kilometres from her home. Visibly shaken, Smith told KelownaNow that she was working at the ranch when she heard about the fire burning above Rock Creek.

It was just after 4:00 p.m. when Smith’s roommate came down to the ranch, telling her that it was time to head home and pack a bag.

“When [my roommate] came down to tell me how close it was to the house, it was…well they weren’t going to let us go back in to get anything, but decided they would and just said to be fast. We were putting things in the car and we could see the fire; it felt like it was right there. It was really fast, this whole fire. It’s just spreading so fast.”

After grabbing what they could from their house, Smith and her roommate returned to the ranch and waited for the evacuation notice.

There are approximately 17 horses, a dozen cows, a couple hundred different kinds of birds, goats, pigs, and a few cats at the ranch. Smith has no idea how the animals are. She was told that her home is still standing, but that the ranch has burned to the ground; however, this has not yet been confirmed.

“We just closed the gates going towards the fire, and opened the gates going away from the fire and called all [the animals] out,” said Smith.

At this time, Smith cannot get a hold of her boss, the owner of the ranch, but has heard that she is safe.

“I guess the biggest thing is, it’s a very strong community. Everyone looks after each other and I have faith that it will all be okay,” added a very solemn Smith.

Photo Credit: contributed.

According to ESS Director Beryl Itani, there are currently 80-90 evacuees at the Kelowna location, which is at the Salvation Army at the corner of Burtch and Sutherland. Itani is expecting more evacuees to register later Friday afternoon. There are approximately 300 evacuees in Midway.

She has also received dozens of calls from frantic evacuees saying that they cannot get in touch with some of their relatives. ESS is trying to locate unaccounted relatives at this time.

The Rock Creek fire is burning aggressively and it has been confirmed that one home was destroyed by the blaze.