On Friday when the trans Canada highway (which goes through Sorrento the town we live just outside) opened, we took a drive outside to see the “scene of the crime”. We saw all of the destruction from the end of Little Shuswap Lake almost to the turn off we usually take to our house. You could see where the fire has crossed the highway from the north, and gone up the hill on the south side for a distance of 7-8 KM of highway, taking all the of the power poles, and any structures in its wake.

This area is largely the Little Shuswap First Nations band. It was interesting in areas of total destruction to find a house standing here and there, bright and perfect, almost out of place, amidst the ruin.

Instructions were not to stop anywhere along the way. All of the turn offs on the road were barricaded or manned with a security car. We stopped at the end of Elson Road with a hope of getting a glimpse of where we live. We talked to the security guard who made it clear that we could not even walk up the road and in fact if we were stopped more than 5 mins we would be ticketed by the CSRD. We could not see our house, as the area, in particular, was very smokey. There were 2 helicopters actively dropping buckets of water in the area. It was hard to really see anything, so I tried unsuccessfully to get a good video of the helicopters filling with water. Tucker was pretty pissed that we did not drive home. We then drove back to Kamloops and got back at about 4 pm. At 5:30 pm the powers that be, changed the designation of Sorrento from evacuation order to Alert, allowing everyone to return home. Since we live about 5 KM west of Sorrento, I phoned them to make certain that it was safe for us to go back (I guess because where we live appeared to be where the remaining fire was), they said for sure we could go back. We opted to wait until the morning, just to make sure.

So I drove ahead to see if it seemed OK for Ken to bring Motorhome. The air was good, it more smelled like smoke, than actually smokey. It appears that some of our larger trees at the top of our property have burned, and will need to be taken down. The weeds coming down the bank have also burned, but house seems to have been missed by the fire. AND MY GARDEN looks GREAT! albeit a bit weedy🤔

our biggest concern about fire has always been the road leading up to our place, and should a fire happen that might block our ability to exit. There was clear evidence that the fire had involved the trees alongside our road.

We had LOTS of company when we first got home. The various neighbours, some of whom I had never met came up. Most of them have stayed throughout the fire. They live 1/2 KM down the hill. We only have one neighbour up where we live. Both of our homes sit on what used to be a gravel pit, lacking any trees or foliage, and both survived. I believe that the fire in its fury has a mind of its own, the strong wind, the heat, the wind direction and the amount of fuel in its path. It is evident that the main fire would have passed our houses hitting just the top of our property. It is the flying embers that would likely have burned our house. We have a metal roof, metal siding and concrete patios around much of our house. The fire department who were the second visitors we had, complimented us on our house being very fire proof. The firefighters who have been working up here are a local fire department and have been working hard up here to prevent this fire from moving on to Sorrento the township. Apparently they heard that we were doctors and so have been awaiting our return because one of them had a medical concern 😀

There was even a photojournalist from Los Angeles who came by to take photos.

We have been lamenting how very hot it is up here with no trees to provide any shade on these very hot summers. We have also been planning on planting many trees. Well this is likely what saved our place. A “fuelless” property.

The COMOX fire department came up and put sprinklers on our neighbours house and refilled the reservoir there. There are fire crews from all over the province in our area.

SOOO This is our secret weapon, our son Dylan made us a few years ago during the fires. It attaches to a fire hose and shoots LOTS of water a LONG distance. He IS willing to make these for other people…..

So as the day went on, and it got hotter, the fires behind warmed up and from about noon until 8pm the helicopters (2 of them) were continually bucketing the area behind us.

it DID get quite smokey into the evening. We did get a bit nervous being alone up here, but the firetrucks came up about 9 pm and told us that everything looked pretty good. So glad it gets cooler at night.

This morning it is very smoky and we have lots of N95 masks. many many many tomatoes to process, I planted 150 plants this year with hopes of selling at the market, but I guess that is out, so tomato sauce, salsa, tomato paste etc etc etc.

We have opted to stay, trusting in the local fire dept telling us that we are safe. The family below us have 5 kids and they too are a “little ” wary.

coming up next…… dealing with the freezer etc

so for now

thanks for reading much love from Janet, Ken and tucker the fire dog