----- Original Message -----
From: <jaydee1(a)shaw.ca>
To: "JEAN BELL" <jeancbell(a)sympatico.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Re:- Okanagan Mountain Fire
Jean
Could you please pass this on to Norm Ashton,etc. Thanks
To all our friends and relatives who have phoned us and sent us an e-mail,
and to all of you who have attempted to make contact unsuccessfully, thank
you for your expression of concern, and your prayers.
First, we are all OK.
It has been a roller coaster week. On Friday 15 August a bolt of lightning
hit the ground and caused a small fire near Rattlesnake Island in the
Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park. This is about 15 kms away from our home
as the crow flies, and ironically was the place that we had chosen for our
family to have an overnight camp that weekend. For reasons that no doubt
will receive close scrutiny, someone made the decision that it would burn
out, and few resources were allotted to it. It grew rapidly.
On Saturday we were put on alert and began to pack up the essentials.
Fortunately one of Jean's cousins had a walk-in trailer and pulled it up to
our door. We were able to pack all the files, photos, and most of the
memorabilia and family momentos into the trailer- no furniture. We were on
one hour's notice to move. Sunday allowed us to finish packing stuff and we
concentrated on putting sprinklers on the roof and fuel removal.
Monday the fire became quite aggressive and we were evacuated with NO notice
other than a Mountie knocking on our door telling us to leave immediately.
We went to Jean's brother and sister in law- Ted and Gloria- to stay. There
were 17 of us and four dogs and a cat.
Meanwhile our family began to arrive from afar for our son Michael and
Jayne's wedding which was to take place on the following Saturday - at our
house.
Tuesday and Wednesday we watched with apprehension and tried to carry on
with normal day activity with kids and grand children (and wedding preps)
with 12 of us in Ted's house. One of our families went to Jean's other
brother. In the meantime, we pulled out dozens of flower boxes and pots
that Jean had prepared for the wedding, as well as decorations, food, etc.
Thursday we had changed location of the wedding to Jean's cousins' -Jerry
and Beth - about ten kilometers from us. We set up the tent, had the
wedding rehearsal, and did some preliminary decorations. That evening we
were all evacuated again from Teds and went closer into the centre of town
to Jean's uncle's house. The fire really came on strong then, and at 2:oo
a.m. we evacuated again and went across the lake to Jean's other
brother -Garry and Denise. At this point the family had to split up. Garry
lives on a high hill and we can see our house from his balcony, as well as
the whole panorama of the fire. That evening we watched as our whole
neighbourhood was engulfed in flames and thought we could see our house
burn. The next morning (Friday) we awoke to a strong wind that fanned the
flames but cleared the smoke and we could see the house still standing. The
burning house that we saw the night before was our next door neighbour. In
all, in our small neighbourhood of thirty
plus houses, only fifteen survived. We went to a meeting with the fire
chief and all our neighbours to be told definitively which house were
standing and he confirmed ours was OK.
By this time Jayne's parents were put on evacuation alert too. Michael and
Jayne decided that they did not want to get married with everyone looking
over their shoulder and stressed out and they postponed the wedding (date
tbc). It was a good decision because Jerry and Beth (where the wedding tent
was set up) were then given evacuation notice and we could not have had it
there anyhow. They are not out of danger yet, with the fire about one km
away from them right now. They are staying to fight the fire and received
quite a bit of media attention for doing so.
By Friday about 30,000 people fom our portion of Kelowna were evacuated.
Friday night was out of Dante's Inferno!! We observed as the wind fanned the
fire and watched in horror as it spread not only outwards but also back on
itself and our neighbourhood went up in flames again. This is the night that
about 250 houses were lost. We looked through binoculars and again thought
our house had gone up. We could not see our house for two days after that
because of the smoke but we received reports from friends in the hydro and
enforcement business that it was still standing.
Sunday the officials had a very emotional meeting of owners of the 600 homes
affected and a list was passed out detailing all the lost homes. Ours was
not on it but now an additional 10 neighbours were - ones that had been
spared the night before, including three homes just below us on the lake.
It is weird - we are the centre of about 8 houses all about 500 meters and
away- and 4 of them burned to the ground. Ours didn't. We are told that the
fire came right up to our deck and was put out by some brave firefighters.
We will have lost most of Jeans distant gardens and anything that was
outlying (fences, boat trailer, etc.). We are hoping that the wedding
garden and the arbours and purgolas that I built for the wedding survived.
We haven't seen our house now for ten days and probably won't for quite some
time - there is still a fire burning (I now know how big 20,000 hectares
is ---BIG). As I write this, the fire is still only a short distance from
the suburbs but the wind has died down and it is blowing in the right
direction. From the balcony at Garrys house we can see a line of flame
about ten kms long. So it aint over yet!!
We are going to stay here until we can get closer to our place. Then I will
be able to give you a more accurate assessment of our situation. It is going
to be tough. Aside from our own trauma and a deep sadness for Mike and
Jayne, we will have to deal with meeting our close friends and neighbours
who have lost their homes - several dozen of them.
We thank God we are all safe and bless the firefighters.
Although I got my computer out of the house it is not set up and I don't
have a hard copy of my email address book (lesson learned). So I can't give
an all stations call. Please feel free to pass on our news as you see fit.
We will get around to everybody --sometime. The telephone company has
rerouted our phone to Jeans brother. As you can imagine our phone is our
most precious possession right now as we try and keep track of family and
friends so we are trying to keep it clear. We will however be able to
monitor email once a day.
God bless!
Jack and Jean
PS a footnote to all of this, and some happy news is that one of Jaynes
relatives offered Mike and Jayne a timeshare in Calgary for several days,
and a relative of ours gave them back door tickets to see Cher who was
performing in Calgary last night. They have bounced back and promise that
they will have their wedding soon at a happier time.