Residents of the tight-knit community of Venables Valley southwest of Ashcroft are trying to remain hopeful as they wait to hear the extent of structure loss in the wake of the Shetland Creek wildfire, which swept through Saranagati village on the evening of July 17.
“We’ve heard there is structure loss, but we’re uncertain of the numbers, and the fire is still doing its thing,” says Damodar Paquette, who was evacuated from the community with his wife and two children.
“We have an individual going in there from our community to look at the situation, and we’re not making any announcements until the damage has been assessed. Right now we’re keeping our hopes up, but at the same time we don’t want misinformation that will give people false hope.”
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is putting the preliminary estimate of structures lost at fewer than 10, but officials have not been able to enter the area to do a complete assessment.
Many members of the community of around 80 people were attending a meeting on July 17 that had been called because of the threat of the Shetland Creek wildfire, which started south of the community on July 12.
“It was a FireSmart meeting to prepare our homes,” says Paquette. Venables residents had seen the lightning and thunderstorms at the beginning of the week (“Not good news”), and knew there was a fire south of them, so the FireSmart meeting was arranged.
It was not the first time that Venables residents had talked about fire mitigation, and Paquette says that steps had been taken in the past to try to mitigate the potential for damage in the case of fire. There had also been training to help people deal with fires, and community members had successfully put out small lightning-caused fires in the past.
However, Paquette adds that a big part of dealing with fires is knowing when to escape.
“We knew there was a fire, and that it might stay there or come here, but we didn’t have much chance to discuss it,” says Paquette. “We were talking about how to deal with this fire, but it was announcing itself — it was there in the sky, we saw flames over the ridge — and it said ‘No, you’re going to get out of the way’ and did its thing.”
Evacuation was made easier, adds Paquette, because most members of the community were at the meeting and saw the threat.
“When this fire came to our valley there was no ‘Are we going to fight this fire?’ It was moving pretty fast and we were seeing trees light up like matches down the valley.
“There was no argument; it was ‘Let’s evacuate now.’”
Paquette says that what followed was stressful.
“We went home filled with adrenalin, and within two hours everyone was out. We had sheep and were trying to get them into our truck, but after an hour of them panicking we were unsuccessful. We have low expectations, but high hopes, that they’ll survive, be able to find food and shelter and water.
“We’re hoping for the best for them, but we had to have priorities. In the future we’ll have equipment and training for [getting them out] if it happens again.”
When residents left on Wednesday night there was uncertainty about what had happened, and an expectation that the village would be devastated. The next day they heard that the fire had not gone everywhere and that most structures were okay; then the wind picked up and there was another wave of fires in the valley.
Now residents are just waiting for the fire to be gone so that they can get a clear view of the situation.
“We will reassess once we know and come up with a plan as a community of how to tackle that,” says Paquette. “That’s the test of a community. I remain very hopeful. There are plenty of challenges in this world — that’s the nature of this world — and I hope that as a community we can face it. The most important thing is that there were no casualties.
“We’re not out of the woods. It’s devastation and part of nature, but at the same time humans have always been able to work around that and find great opportunities. Destruction can lead to new creation, and maybe it will help us rebuild better. We remain hopeful that we will be able to sustain our losses.”
In the meantime, the residents of Saranagati village have been relocated from Cache Creek to Kamloops. Paquette says that the Kamloops community has been very welcoming, which is helping them greatly, and he and his wife are trying to make sure their children don’t feel the weight of the situation.
“They remain in high spirits, and they’re still happy. We’re trying to shelter them as best we can. We haven’t told them yet that there are losses. We’re waiting to see the full reality of it.”
Residents are also trying to gather together on a daily basis, to keep their morale high. “This calamity is a great opportunity to bring us closer together and allow us to absorb ourselves in the important things in life, in our spiritual life. Everything else is temporary.
“We’re grateful for all the help and support that friends, and the larger community, have shown. It touches our hearts. And we acknowledge, and are grateful for, all the hard work firefighters are doing in this humongous task of protecting everyone from these wildfires. It’s a devastating force that makes us seem insignificant, but at the same time shows the awesomeness of nature, and how we have no control over it.”
Paquette adds that while these wildfires are becoming more and more of a reality in B.C., he sees a silver lining.
“We love our area and our community, and we want to work around this. Once the fire has gone it’s exhausted its fuel, so we don’t expect another fire that big anytime soon. Looking back, we could have been better at mitigation, but we have been trying, and it will definitely become more of a priority. There will be more motivation to do stuff on this, because we don’t want to suffer any more loss.”
In the meantime, residents wait to see the full extent of the damage to the community they love.
“We’re not getting our hopes up,” says Paquette. “It is what it is; we can’t change anything. We’re hoping.”
