The community of Clinton, B.C., has largely remained intact following an overnight confrontation with a fierce wildfire, as confirmed by a local official on Saturday.
Brian Doddridge from the village’s emergency operations center indicated that he believed the “vast majority” of Clinton’s residential areas had withstood the advancing flames.
However, he acknowledged that some structures were lost when the Pear Lake wildfire reached the edges of the town late Friday evening.
Doddridge stated that officials would assess the damage and inform property owners, while efforts to control the flames continued into the next morning. He spoke via phone from Kamloops, located approximately 120 kilometers southeast.
Residents had been instructed to evacuate their homes on Friday, and while Doddridge was one of the few village staff who initially stayed behind to assist with the evacuation, they departed around 5 p.m. as the fire drew nearer.
Crews in the Fraser Canyon are busy trying to contain three wildfires around Boston Bar. Lori Daniels, co-director of the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence at UBC says the community is now flanked by flames to the south, west and northeast.
According to Doddridge, the town was enveloped in smoke, making it difficult to see beyond its immediate borders. “But you could see the orange glow coming over the hill,” he described.
He noted that some residents chose to remain in their homes despite the evacuation directive.
“They have been alerted by door-to-door notifications that it’s an extremely hazardous area in the hot zone and that they risk their lives by staying there,” he explained.
Doddridge mentioned that fire crews had been working through the night to set up sprinklers and combat the Pear Lake fire, one of three blazes that comprise the Big Bar wildfire complex.
The B.C. Wildfire Service has indicated that all three fires are anticipated to continue expanding, and crews are reassessing conditions to inform Saturday’s firefighting strategies.
Residents of the Village of Clinton have been ordered out due to a wildfire. Highway 97 through the area remains closed. CBC’s Shelley Joyce was there today as the order came down. And, in the Boston Bar area, two out-of-control fires have merged, burning over more than 264 square kilometres in total. Johna Baylon reports on that fire.
Doddridge expressed gratitude for the “wonderful people” working tirelessly to safeguard the village and its infrastructure, yet emphasized that the danger persists.
“We’re essentially relying on them at this moment,” he stated.
Annette Roehlig, a resident of Clinton, chose to stay behind to protect her home.
“This is my home,” she remarked. “I want to stay here, live here… I want to preserve my home.”
Roehlig observed the fire rapidly advancing toward the town from her property in the southern part of Clinton.
“Initially, it was small, just a few flames. Then a gust came, and the flames reached… perhaps four levels of homes,” she recounted. “The firefighters were right there, and I saw it receding after they battled it.”
Another resident reported that the fire impacted structures in an industrial zone south of the town.
Steven Larabie disclosed that the blaze affected his tow truck business and his home, located south of Clinton, during the night.
“I lost my home, my business that I’ve operated for 35 years, all my tow trucks,” he shared with CBC News on Saturday.
Larabie mentioned that the fire spread quickly and he barely managed to escape in time.