The wildfires that raged through the area last summer made it a difficult season for Burns Lake. Official figures were not yet available, but the fires destroyed millions of dollars worth of property, caused livestock to go missing and disrupted local wildlife.
They also forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, which in turn has caused stress-related health problems.
It was a blow to the community, but Burns Lake is still standing.
Some people, like Nelson, 85 and Ele Schultz, 80, were only given several hours notice before they had to evacuate in mid-August as the fires burned 13 kilometres from their house.
They left their house on the Southside of Francois Lake and were given a motor home to stay in at Honeysuckle Farms, the couple told Lakes District News.
They later stayed with friends in Prince George.
When they were able to return on Sept. 13 they found their house covered in ash, but undamaged.
A neighbour was less fortunate, whose house and yacht had burned to the ground.
“It was like a bomb went off,” Ele said.
Though evacuating was difficult for them, “We’ve never seen the community come together so much. It was like family,” they said.
Lisa and Axel Orr, were given only two hours notice before they had to pack up everything and leave their homes at Southbank.
They stayed at Lisa’s parent’s house in Tintagel and ate at the Burns Lake Band office, where three meals per day were made for evacuees.
“We got to see the people you might worry about, like elderly people,” Lisa said. “It was nice to be able to have dinner here and see that they were safe and taken care of.”
“So many people offered things like laundry and showers at their homes,” Axel added.
Since they returned to their house they’ve been trying to get back to the normal rhythm of life, and the community has helped make that transition smoother.
“There have been so many things offered to us since we got home,” such as firewood by the Chinook Community Forest and school supplies for children by Alcan [Rio Tinto], Lisa explained.
Other residents refused to evacuate, including Cody Reid, who works for the Cheslatta Carrier Nation.
“I was part of The Wolfpack, like a renegade [fire fighter] group. [BC] Forestry said to get out and we said ‘No, we’re staying to protect our farms and community,'” he said.
His group used their own pickup trucks and water tanks to hold back the fires and he implies their efforts worked better to fight the blazes on the Southside than those of the authorities.
He feels similarly about how the evacuation was carried out.
“It was bullshit. It should’ve been – if you’re able to stay and fight then stay and fight. It was a lot of fear mongering,” he said.
Looking to the future, Reid said the community is ready if the wildfires return because of the cooperation he experienced, “All the First Nations, all the farmers, everyone worked together towards a common goal.”
