It is smoke -- not fog.
This being the 3rd day of the smoke, it is 3 times lighter. Saturday night you could cut the smoke with a knife. It stung the eyes and hurt the throat. Needless to say we've had a couple of 'inside' days.
But we haven't had it as bad as many in our surrounding communities.
On Thursday, August 13th fire swept through southern BC. Starting just north of Rock Creek and in less than an hour it had leveled the whole west side of Kettle River Provincial Park.
Approx. 200 guests and staff, leaving behind their RV's and camping gear, had to evacuate across the bridge (many on foot) as the only park exit was engulfed in flames.
The park managers, who live full time in their 5th wheel, have lost everything.
This picture on the right shows what is left of their home. The man walking is our boss.
The fire didn't stop there. It quickly surged northward taking 30 homes with it and leveling almost 4,000 hectares of forest in its path. Then another fire burst open over by Oliver (north of Osoyoos) and yet another just south of Anarchist on the US side.
Highway 33 from Rock Creek to Beaverdell was closed for over a week, reopening just last Friday. Hwy 3 from Rock Creek to Osoyoos was closed for 3 days.
It is all so surreal. The Firefighters are still working overtime and the communities all came together to house and feed the evacuees.
But the smoke we smell today is coming from the other fires surrounding us. There are fires burning all around us and two burning just south of the border.
No comments:
Post a Comment