A Peachland resident forced to leave his home because of the Bald Range wildfire said his family had time to prepare but struggled to find somewhere to stay after evacuating.
Larry said his family left their home around 2 a.m. after hearing from neighbours and travelled to West Kelowna to register for emergency support.
“We left at 2 o’clock in the morning because the neighbours told us and that kind of thing. And we went to Peachland, but there was nothing open right then because it was all fresh. Then we went to West Kelowna to the arena there, and there we got registered. Eventually they sent us back here to By Lord Co in West Kelowna and my wife’s just in there now. She’s probably been in line for three or four hours right now, just trying to find a place to lay our heads.”
Larry said he was concerned changing winds could worsen conditions and prevent residents from returning home
“It doesn’t sound like they’re going to let us back in there because if the winds come up, I guess this evening, it could be very devastating for Peachland too. So hopefully not, but we’ll see.”
He said his family had prepared for the possibility of an evacuation, giving them time to gather medication and other necessities before leaving.
“We were kind of ready for it. My wife had things packed up. I’m a diabetic, so we just have to get my insulin and that out of the fridge, hopefully it doesn’t spoil. We got all our pills and we had lots of time.” he said.
“It was quite well organized. The people in Summerland didn’t get much notice at all because it just sort of blew up on them.”
Larry also thanked firefighters and other crews responding to the emergency
“The fire department has just been wonderful. They’re doing the best they can. I hope people understand that and respect that because it’s not an easy job trying to get 20,000 people out, but we really appreciate all the help so far that we’re getting. We’re just trying to find a room.”
