Fintry Forest Fire & A Police Escort

Written on Tuesday, August 11… I am now in the Okanagan Valley. I flew up from San Francisco (where I had just completed a week of meetings) on Friday evening, stayed one night at Gran’s house then drove to Predator Ridge on Saturday. With respect to the Terrace Mountain forest fire, the big debate has been how to get into the evacuated area to remove the remainder of our personal effects. Some of these items we could always do without, but as the days passed by a list developed of missing medications, expensive items (the Nikon digital SLR), a friend’s briefcase loaded with important papers and so on. Returning to Hong Kong without this stuff would have been a logistical nightmare. On Monday, August 10th we called every single number possible – Central Fire Command, the RCMP, phone numbers listed on official web sites covering the fires – but with no luck. Of course, each call we had a big sob story of us returning to Hong Kong in a few days and “just want to get our stuff out.” Typically the answer: “Nobody goes in.” This was partly the result of another event the evening I arrived where the Terrace fire jumped the fireguard again as it had the week earlier that prompted the 2nd evac. The fire was quickly contained but the event meant the fire was even closer to La Casa, Westside Road and ultimately Fintry.

Eventually Bob (one of our guests but name changed to protect a variety of parties) hit the jackpot. Bob made some calls and leveraged his way into the fire services fraternity having a strong fire services connection himself. Bob was quite funny with a story that cut quickly to the chase, “This is who I am… got evacuated… friend’s family leaving country soon… medicines, important papers, valuables… SO HOW DO I GET IN?” (Said with tone that assumed they would say “Okay, Bob!) Once he hit the jackpot things moved pretty quickly.

“How long do you need to be there? How many people?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Not long, maybe ten to fifteen minutes. We’ll be in one vehicle, three people including myself who know where all the necessary items are in the cabin,” Bob replied.

“How soon can you be at the checkpoint?”

“How soon?” Bob asked as he looked at me. I held up one finger for one hour. “One hour,” Bob said then he hung-up the phone. “They are radioing ahead to say we’re coming. One vehicle, let’s go.”

By this point we had a plan figured out, who would go, how many vehicles etc. Bob said, “One vehicle, three people.” Okay, forget the plan. I had the largest rental vehicle and the only one permitted to drive the vehicle. We literally ripped everything out of the car, (car seats etc) dropping them on the pavement for others to deal with and started on our way.

Five km from the police checkpoint a volunteer operated pre-roadblock stopped us. They asked us where we were going then flagged us on. “The final checkpoint is another five clicks,” they explained. Not long later we arrived at the checkpoint to find the RCMP. Bob jumped out to speak with them and reportedly it was a pretty simple conversation. (At left, the RCMP roadblock as seen when exiting.)

“Are you Bob?”

“Yes,” showing them his ID.

“We’ll follow you,” the officer instructed.

Twenty minutes later we arrived at Fintry Delta. With the exception of the helicopters loading up with fire retardant at the provincial park nearby, Fintry Delta looked like we were driving through a ghost town. In fact, for anyone who has seen the original Andromeda Strain (from 1971 and an amazing science fiction story in which speculative science is at the core of the plot – way better than the latest version) that’s what it felt like. Tess had a less complicated, undramatic interpretation: “It looks like people just dropped everything and left." Good point, in the movie people were lying dead on the ground. We didn't see that.

We pulled up to the cottage. Bob and Tess jumped out. We were concerned that the cottage would be locked and we wouldn't have any keys. (Normally a neighbour looks after the keys.) Therefore, while I backed the car into the driveway with the police watching, Tess ran around back to be certain we would be able to get inside. Sure enough as I stopped the car I heard the door unlocking from the inside. The next fifteen minutes was one mass clear out, literally throwing everything we could get our hands on into suitcases and then the car. Tess was highly organized ahead of time while we drove, so we each had a role: I was in charge of packing the car while Bob and Tess cleared specific rooms. With a few minutes to spare, we each did a final sweep of the house. Each one of us opened the fridge at least once but quickly closed it. The RCMP observed the entire operation from across the road. Tess made a comment like, "We should have brought them donuts." (RCMP parked across the road. Note the blue ribbon tied to the top of the bush at the end of the driveway. We saw different coloured ribbons with "Search Team" written on them in front of each house. Apparently the colour indicates if the residents have been accounted for and if the home needs to be searched if the fire came too close.)

I walked out into the backyard that faces the water… stuff was strewn everywhere indicating a “drop and run” situation. Kids clothes and toys were left about. (Normally each night the kids bring in their toys and clothes from the backyard and rocky beach.) Toys, chairs, clothes, the dock and outside of the cottage were lightly splattered with red fire retardant. A thick film of dust covered everything, kicked up by water bombers landing and taking off, and helicopters re-loading with water just offshore. Even in the fifteen minutes clea
ring out the cottage, helicopters flew overhead with fire retardant (sample at left) and while others landed to intake water. The cottage was right next to an emergency heli-base set-up on Fintry Provincial Park. I’ll post pictures of that in a few days.

Afterwards we thanked the RCMP escorts profusely and gave them a few souvenirs that we found amongst our luggage.  By this point they were quite friendly and any skepticism of us diminished. Several weeks earlier, two roaring forest fires in Westbank (the media referred to the location as West Kelowna, which didn’t win friends with Westbank residents!) had a number of looting incidents. The police were taking no chances this time around. They escorted us back out and we headed back to Predator Ridge. (At left, the RCMP escort us back out of Fintry Delta. The mound of dirt next to the RCMP van is what Seb calls "Sebastian's Mountain." Years ago it was much taller then him. Today not so much.)

Now, Bob is a joker. Aren’t we all? Once we were well past the exit checkpoint he sent a text message back to the friends and family who were waiting for a report on our mission: “Where’s the key?” A few texts back and forth (the key, what, huh?) and soon Bob’s phone rang with Tess’ sister on the other end.

Bob answered excitedly “Hi, hey listen I need to know where the key is to the cottage SOON. The cops are here with a shotgun and if I don’t come up with a key pretty soon we’re gonna get charged with obstructing justice or something… oh wait, Tess figured it out. Gotta go, bye!”

That night, my business conference calls behind me (a whole story other story I won't get into) kids settling down for the night, the adults were eating dinner. Tess’ sister asked, “Was that guy really holding a shotgun?” Tess, Bob and I eyeballed each other and went silent.

“Wait a minute, what’s going on?”

“Uh, we were actually already halfway back to Vernon by that point!”

Yes, it’s still possible to have a good laugh in the middle of a nightmarish vacation.

Fintry forest fire update from Tess for Aug 1

despite still being on evacuation alert, we were not prepared for this.

we had seen the forest fire all day long, but there was absolutely no talk of it on the radio. we were listening as were two sets of neighbours. nothing was mentioned. so, we went about our business, enjoying being back at fintry, the kids racing around from one room to the next, jumping into the water, laughing out loud, relaxing and playing. it was truly joyous. friends were there. there was work to do, but it was just so good to be back. labours of love.

and then this. the provincial park right next to us is a temporary helicopter pad where the helicopters loaded up on retardant, and around 5pm, we saw they were concentrating on the fire right behind us. earlier in the day pam and i had walked over to the ess centre set up at the helipad and asked for information and we were told "we don't know anything about the terrace fire burning out of control." (left: smoke rising from terrace mountain as seen from the end of the dock at Fintry. Courtesy of our friends Robert & Wendy.)

yet, at 6.30 when pam, edd and i went for our walk along shorts creek, (which is nothing but rocks and mud), to watch the helicopters, it seemed the smoke was lessening in colour, becoming more a dove grey…yet we walked into the cottage and learned that we were on evacuation order. immediate order.

earlier that day i had amalgamated all the kids stuff and my stuff into one suitcase. millions of little sophie's choices there. so when the time came, the packing wasn't tough, it was just the rush. grabbing crocs and lining them up at the door. the kids were angels. they were eating their dinners and kept eating while the adults ran around them, packing and dragging. (left: team caldwell kids making the most of a crazy situation.)

rushing to the pantry, getting snacks. the fridge, getting water, lots of water. making sure i had the passports. everyone's medications.grabbing cookies from the pantry and pam and i leading the kids out to the front yard where just hours ago the kids had been running through the sprinkler and telling them to sit down and eat a cookie. loading the car. sitting down in the middle seat, holding sela and carys' hands.

and then driving. driving out of the evacuation zone and stopping. to try and find accommodation.  it is a long weekend and there was nothing. but somehow, we all knew something would turn up. i suggested mum call a B&B she stayed at a few years ago and they secured a room for two people. pam got a room at she had stayed at before and the really lovely people there said they would take as many as they could. (left: aerial picture from Sunday morning. Photo: Kelly Hayes – Castanet)

it was a 90 minute drive to vernon, the roads were closed. but we got there and into bed. all was well.

we read the news updates and couldn't believe the footage.

but we were safe.

even though leaving again was difficult, i am so glad we got to go back. and we will again.

thank you for your prayers and wishes.

Update from Charles: On Sunday, August 2nd Predator Ridge Resort managed to find room for the gang. They have been incredibly helpful through this entire ordeal. Of course, Tess is being a super star and dealing really well with a very stressful situation. Word has it she is still running daily!!!

Fintry forest fire & family update for July 25

The following update is based on an e-mail received from Maureen late Friday in Canada. (Sent Saturday morning Hong Kong time while I was on a plane back
from Melbourne, Australia.) In a nutshell, the Terrace Mountain forest fire is 25% contained and 4500 hectares in size thanks to moderate temperatures and light rain. The weather is expected to turn quite hot again as we exit the weekend at which point the fire fighters are bracing for the fire to regain momentum. Meanwhile, two thirds into the video at left, you’ll see Sela and Carys being interviewed. Apparently their voices were too faint so the news editors only used the footage in parallel with another interview. Here’s Maureen…

We are blessed out of our socks.
 
Former Yellowknife friends living in Vernon offered us one of their two houses today to use as long we needed it.

We were also in touch with a resort on the northeast shore of Lake Okanagan, explained the family’s situation and they responded incredibly. They had one two-bedroom cottage left – regular $250-$350/night – and are giving it to us for $99/night. So amazing. Tomorrow we are checking in at this resort – The Predator Ridge Golf Resort. It has pools and hot tubs and lots of space for running. Full kitchen, etc.

The children are being so good. Tess and I walked them for two hours today up and down every aisle in Superstore. 🙂

We thank you so very much, one and all, for your phone calls, love and support. We are so appreciative.
 
Much love

Maureen

Checking out, checking in…

The mission trip to the Philippines was terrific. Sebastian and I had a wonderful time. We've agreed to make a video of the experience but don't expect it's release for another month. A bit too much going on at the moment… we returned from the mission trip on a Sunday night. Next day I was on the red-eye to Melbourne where I spent 48 hours then took the red-eye back. I was in Hong Kong for one week then off Sunday night to Bangalore to assist with conducting an off-site for our India Engineering Centre's leadership team. (My company has 1400+ employees in Bangalore.) Absolutely terrific week and joy to work with these leaders… except I got sick… really sick.

Exiting Bangalore at the end of the week, 2 AM Saturday morning, I tried to pick-up some medicine at the pharmacy. Bad choice. 30 – 45 minutes later I finally emerged after being screened for Swine Flu, that included the pharmacy calling over Government Health officials: I had a temp of 101F. In the few minutes between the pharmacy consult and government health officials I consumed almost two liters of water… anything to cool myself off. They let me go and Cathay/Dragonair upgraded me, too.

Landing in Hong Kong I found Terrific Tess with everything under control in the flat. Much more was moved across from the old flat to the new than I expected. All the painting was completed, including the girls' nuclear pink room. Tess has done an amazing job managing the move, packing, unpacking and has really been a superhero. We all kept pushing through until about 11 PM Saturday – the kids long asleep several hours earlier because, of course, they are sick, too. (Left: Sela pretends she's Gorgeous Odila… note the pink wall.)

Sunday involved more unpacking and me revving the reinstatement project: we have to return the flat to the GPA (landlord) with very specific guidelines. Between the two flats there has been a steady crew of contractors ripping out old items and either re-installing in the new flat or trashing. Today Gary and another assistant began painting the old flat along with a host of other repair work. Going back to the old flat is hard, considering all the memories of the last 8+ years. Naturally, there are little memory bombs lying about: Ben Ten stickers on the wall above Sebastian's bed, Carys' sunglasses accidentally lost amongst some trash (I rescued them), the original colour paint Tess and I chose for our bedroom in 2001 that we discovered after removing our flat screen TV from the wall. However, I am really clear: God wants all this behind me. That's why The Farm Door shut, the 6A Flat Door shut, and soon the door on my childhood home will close. We are in the middle of a season of significant change – many, many people around us are experiencing life changes. Are you? (Left: Jasper crashes on Sebastian's shoulder while Seb watches a movie on the small DVD player.)

Speaking of life changes, Sunday morning in the middle of our unpacking Marianne appeared to say "good-bye." If you've been following Tess' blog you probably know that Marianne took a job as a foreign domestic helper in Canada. We snapped one last picture of her with the kids, hugged her then said an emotional farewell. Her husband, Gary, remains with us and a good friend of theirs will start with us in August. For me, well today I was back at work and still trying to shake my cold. (Left: the kids pose with Marianne on the balcony – note the view!)