There have been a total of 2,049 wildfires in British Columbia since April 1st, 2018, many of which have forced families from their homes and communities. But what about the people on the front lines?
Firefighter Sarah Byers is part of a crew battling the Verdun Mountain blaze and explains you really cannot prepare for the experience.
“I don’t think we understood the gravity of it until we actually got here and you’re seeing tense emotions, people who are really distraught, and directly affected by what’s happening around them,” she says.
“It brings a sense of humanity and community into play.”
Meanwhile, up the road & across the street is the #TakysieLake Resort, which, except for its welcome sign, was spared from the #VerdunMountain fire; @BCGovFireInfo’s Rob Krause explains | #NorthernBC @mypgnow @943TheGOAT @Country97FM pic.twitter.com/a0BYwWDrsS
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) September 7, 2018
A big part of why firefighters struggle to contain larger fires like the Verdun blaze is because of how unpredictable they can be.
“Despite our best efforts and days and days of work we put in, the fire activity would spark up and there’s not a whole lot you can do in those moments,” says Byers, recalling one night her team was up until one in the morning fighting a fire.
“We went to sleep for an hour, we were woken up and tactically withdrawed. Most of us came back relatively early the next day, some of us at nine and some of us at ten, to pick up where we left off.”
The wildfire-caused State of Emergency for the province was taken down today.
There are currently six fires of note in the Northwest Fire Centre and two fires of note in the Prince George Fire Centre. (As of 17:08 on September 7th)