“You sort of have to take it day by day.”
Those words come from Arlene Crawford, who is currently in Prince George with her husband (Wayne) after being evacuated from the Vernon area, as wildfires continue to rage throughout the Okanagan.
“We’re resting up, because we’re staying with a lovely family, and they’ve made us exceptionally comfortable,” she said, “but it’s a constant worry about the fires and how fast they can turn, so you’re always sort of sitting on edge worrying what’s going to happen, but then when you see the devastation in Summerland and how fast that happened, it really drives it home how suddenly your life can be changed in a not good way.”
Crawford said one fire to the north of them sparked on Sunday, with alerts going out that evening because of how fast the fire was moving.
“It’s bone dry where we are, absolutely bone dry like most of southern B.C.,” she said. “By morning, the fire was out of control and they were calling in wildfire services.”
This is not the first time they have been evacuated due to wildfires. Five years ago, they were forced to evacuate during the White Rock Lake wildfire, which she said helped them be better prepared for this time.
“Having been evacuated during the White Rock Lake wildfires for five weeks, I started to get prepared,” Crawford said. “We had our grab and go bag, I started putting stuff in the vehicle, I went over to town, got a few things, made sure we had enough medications, everything like that, we were stocked up and ready to go, should we get the notification, because you never know when the fires are going to turn, and then unfortunately, three new fires started to the south of us, so that all Saturday, we were getting prepared, had our car packed up ready to go, and then on Sunday, we didn’t sleep much Saturday night, and then Sunday morning we were put on alert, and then we noticed they were starting to evacuate communities leading up to our area. Within a few hours of us going on alert, we got the notification over the cell phone to evacuate immediately.”
Crawford said this time around, the evacuation was much more “controlled.”
“The first time five years ago, the fire turned one night and was coming straight at us 80 kilometres that night,” she explained. “We didn’t even go on alert, our phones just starting going off saying get out, the fire’s coming. So we just grabbed a few things in a panic and took off, so this time it was much more organized, less chaotic, we saw the warning signs, we were ready to go, so you just never know if it’s going to happen again, and I’m thinking, well it can’t a second time, yet here we are.”
Crawford is a nurse with a background in intensive care and still works for Northern Health, which she said has helped her in these situations.
“You learn to stay calm in chaotic situations, and that’s sort of helped me quite a bit,” she said. “We had been living in Prince George for many, many years, and then when my husband got sick, we had to move south to a bigger centre so that he could be diagnosed and figure it out, and it still took another seven months after we left the north, but I am very fortunate and very grateful to Northern Health, because they did allow me to work remotely like they do a lot of people.”
Crawford and her husband were not the only ones to make the trip to the northern capital. They evacuated with their four dogs and two birds, which is part of the reason they chose to stay with friends in Prince George.
“A lot of hotels don’t take animals, and we do have family in Merritt but they were also on evacuation alert, and we thought there’s no point in going there if we then have to pack up and move on,” “Brenda just texted me, she goes I don’t care what time you get here, get in the car, and come here, so that’s what we did. It’s very difficult to stay in hotels, hotels and motels are a little bit more forgiving when we’re faced with evacuations and horrible fire seasons, but it’s 20 times as difficult being in a hotel with our dogs and bird. This has got a beautiful backyard that the dogs are safe to roam around and relax and feel comfortable.”
Crawford said the thought of moving away from the area crossed her mind following the first evacuation five years ago.
“My husband put the fire map in front of me and he goes ‘ok, well where do you want to move to’, everything was on fire five years ago,” she said. “Even now, wherever you move, there’s no guarantee that it won’t happen there, I wouldn’t say that it makes me want to move because of the fires. It does make you think though, if this happens again, we’re going to make a list of things to do, we’re looking at what kind of vehicle would be better, what other plans could we do, make it easier on everybody.”
Their house is still standing, but Crawford said the most important thing is the people and animals she loves are with her here in Prince George.
“That was the most important thing for us, was just to get out and get out safely,” she said. “I’ve learned the last time, with the fires, we have a grab and go bag, we have the medications, I know what to throw together, all of our documents are on the cloud, we have everything is backed up that way, we’ve already spoken to our insurance company, know your insurance, what your insurance will cover and what won’t cover, and then registering with ESS immediately, because they are very, very helpful.”
She added what has helped them the most has been the support of local communities.
“All of the community support is tremendously helpful, and most deeply grateful and appreciated.”
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