A couple living near the Hotnarko Lake Fire said they are grateful the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) was able to bring the fire under control.
Pat and Lee Taylor live on a remote ranch in the Precipice Valley between the Chilcotin Plateau and the Coast Mountains where they raise cattle.
On Tuesday Aug. 12, Lee was baling hay when their tractor caught on fire at about 11 a.m.
“We grabbed everything we could and actually prevented the baler from catching on fire,” said Lee.
Complicating their efforts was the fact they were in an outer row of a field that was raked, really dry and ready to bale.
They tried to keep the fire from spreading, and thought they had, but strong winds eventually spread it up the hillside nearby.
“I ran over with my John Deere bulldozer to see if I could put a guard around it, but it was impossible because there were just too many rocks,” Lee said.
The Taylors' daughter and her family were there helping with the baling when the fire first began. At about noon, Pat was up at the main house and got a text from their daughter to call the fire into BCWS.
The response was “incredibly fast,” Pat said.
Within a few hours there were ground crews, heavy equipment from Tatla Lake, Nimpo Lake and Anahim Lake and air support all working to stop the fire from spreading.
“It’s amazing what these skimmers, air tankers and helicopters can do,” Pat said. “The skimmers were flying right through thick smoke and I said, ‘how can they see what they are doing?’ and they said, ‘the Bird Dog gives them coordinates having flown ahead of them.’”
Eventually a structural protection unit, including some members from the Horsefly Volunteer Fire Department, arrived to protect the Taylors’ and two other properties in the valley.
On Wednesday, crews did a successful back burn.
Assessing the damage Sunday, the Taylors said two of their meadows burned, as well as 70 hay bales.
They normally produce 400 to 500 bales for their 50 cow/cattle operation plus a couple of bulls, so losing 70 bales was big.
“We may have to sell some of our animals to make it work,” Pat said.
Lee expects the meadows will recover, but they will have to do some rehabilitation work on the peat meadows where the fire has burned holes in the ground.
“They told me they had to go down as deep as a metre to clean it out. I don’t know how that’s going to be and won’t until the fire is completely out,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate it was a tractor fire, because you feel a different connection to the fire than if it was Mother Nature,” said Pat.
Lee said he keeps telling the BCWS crews and contractors how grateful they are for the help they received.
“For anybody who gets pissed off at the government because of taxation, all they have to do is be confronted with a wildfire and understand the response to it - that’s tax dollars at work.”
This wasn’t the Taylors' first experience with fire. They moved there in 1974 and said there have been several fires over the years.
In 2017, a wildfire came into their lower property and dropped some hot spots into their meadows.
“It’s almost like a continuation,” Pat said. “What didn't burn in the west end in that fire, now it’s burning up through our meadows to the east side.”
Pat is 76 and Lee is 80 and they count themselves lucky they are still living in the valley and enjoying the life they’ve built there together. The nearest stores to them are in Anahim Lake and Ulktacho First Nation about a 90-minute drive away.
As of Aug. 19, BCWS reported the fire was under control and estimated to be about 58.1 hectares. Crews have been mopping up and patrolling the fire.
Pat said Wednesday evening the crews were still working on the outer edges of the fire.
"The sun and winds have returned so I hope the fire stays quiet. I will be nervous for the next few days/weeks. If the outer ring is clear, they will begin to clean up and clear out by Friday. These winds will be the test, I think. Fingers crossed."
She said she could hear a water pump working hard over by the River Meadow.
"It is comforting to know the crew is still here working on our behalf."
An evacuation alert issued for the area jointly by the Central Coast Regional District, Ulkatcho First Nation and the Tsilhqot’in National Government on Tuesday evening, Aug. 12 was rescinded on Friday, Aug. 15.
