July 2021

 

To sum up this month, think of heat, smoke, and Covid 19.  And lots of all of them.

We had so many days of heat alerts that I lost track of them.

We also reached level 3 drought (4 is the worst level).  The lupines went from bloom to bust almost overnight, and grasshoppers are the most conspicuous insect here.  Almost everything else is brown.  As might be expected, our cacti are thriving.

The biggest news was the forest fire situation.  By July 4, the Kamloops Fire Centre, which covers our area, had responded to 170 fire starts in the last 4 days.  Fire season was considered to be a month early.  On July 11, the Thomas Creek Wildfire started in Okanagan Falls, about an hour’s drive north of us.  That was one of 300 fires active in BC by that time.  In a day, the TC fire had grown from 100 to 500 hectares in size and we were getting smoke from it.  In 3 days it grew to 5000 hectares.

Not wishing for us to miss out on the action, a fire started on July 19 around 4 pm between Oliver and Osoyoos on native land owned by the Nk’Mip band.  (Pronounced in ka meep’.)  By 8 pm it had expanded to 780 hectares.  Brian got a good picture of the pyrocumulus cloud forming above the fire.

The next morning, July 20, the fire had grown to 2000 hectares, and an evacuation order was set for residents on Anarchist mountain north of Hwy 3 (the Crowsnest Highway).  We were south of Hwy 3 by about 200 yards, so we were just put on Evacuation Alert.  Osoyoos and BC both declared states of Emergency.

On July 21, we had occasion to drive up to Oliver and managed to watch some of the firefighting activity from the west side of the lake.  You could see helicopters bucketing the fire.  The fire was now estimated to cover 3000 hectares.

As we watched, we suddenly heard light aircraft overhead and were treated to the sight of six skimmers in a linear formation dropping down to the lake to skim up water and then delivering their loads across the way.  Their precision and timing was amazing.

This picture is fuzzy but you can see trees candling with fire.

In Osoyoos, there were lots of people just watching the fire.  The Nk’Mip campground had been evacuated, and many of the vehicles went to the grocery store to overnight before finding somewhere else to stay.

The smoke was now so thick that you could easily take a picture of the sun, but the BC Wildfire Service was unable to map the fire for firefighting planning.  The fire was estimated to cover 13,000 hectares plus.

July 22: the bomb fell.  We were given an evacuation order around noon, and headed up to Kelowna where we had originally booked a hotel for a few days the next week for a regular check-up for Brian.  Fortunately, they were able to fit us in for more days.  The smoke conditions precluded the wildfire service from having any understanding of the area covered by the fire, which also precluded aircraft from operating safely.

I will end this saga with highlights of Kelowna, but in the meantime I will get to the end of the fire story.

On July 29, our evacuation order was rescinded at 4 pm although the northern part of Hwy 3 was still under order. We waited until next morning to return.

When we got back, even though the smoke was heavy, we could see hot spots burning over the next hill.

Getting back home was such a relief.  There were little signs of change, although some four-footed vandals tried to eat every flower available.  I try to plant deer-resistant plants, but some of them were still taken.  Shasta Daisy—it might be deer-resistant, but all the flowers were gone.  Planter—phlox and lantania—they might be deer-resistant, but the deer were hungry.  Marigolds in the garden bed were plucked out of the ground, but left discarded once the deer decided they didn’t taste any good.  Ah well.

 

Our time in Kelowna did have some highlights, even though we were essentially killing time there.  The first day, Brian leaned over and whispered to me, “Helen, is it the fashion for women to wear just brassieres these days??!!&^*^$#@.”  I looked around, and to my shock I had to answer, “yes”.  Here is the definitive picture of a mannequin displaying the current fashionable look.  I couldn’t find a price tag, but my experience suggests that the less that is covered, the higher the price will be.  Brian may have to go in for an optometrist’s evaluation.

Our hotel looked down on Bernard Street in Kelowna, a major downtown street.  To our surprise it was blocked off, except for cross traffic, for six blocks.  On the blocks without traffic, restaurant patios blossomed, and there was entertainment, games, and art displays for everyone.  People watching was superb.

 The south end of Bernard Street opened out in a beautiful city park that ran along the waterfront.  On the northeast side you could see the Yacht club and marina, which included both large and small boats.

As you moved southwest along the water, you could walk along lovely sidewalks sheltered by trees, watch kids paddling on a big play feature in the lake, check out a frisbee game on a field, or watch kids at a fountain park.

 

Check out the big ladybug at the upper left side of the photo.  The kids knew something would happen, and they would try to stay as long underneath they could before chickening out.  The bug would fill with water half way and then start tipping over before finally letting its load down.

 

One thing we started noticing was kids, young and old, riding everywhere on scooters.  Then we noticed some of these scooters left on sidewalks here and there.  It appeared you could get going on one of them for only a dollar.  Finally we even found a scooter parking lot.  Easy fun!

We got in a couple of nice walks in a nature area or two, but as our stay lengthened, the smoke got greater and greater since Kelowna had fires on all four sides at a distance.

 

Due to further Covid outbreaks in central BC, masks were once again mandated in Kelowna.  It almost felt better getting back to that level of safeguard.

 One thing puzzled us:  there were safety vests displayed in many unlikely places.  We finally realized it was recognition for the victims of the crane collapse that occurred July 12.

 

We were very lucky this month in so many ways.  Our local volunteer Fire Department has done a Herculean job of protecting the residents.  When support started arriving, it consisted of experienced people such a "Wildfire Urban Interface Specialists" and “Structure Protection Specialists” whose whole job was to try to save homes.  They had brought a trailer with 500 water bladders and sprinklers to help protect properties.  We only have about 250 homes on the hill, so they had us completely covered.  One of our major issues is lack of water, and they even scouted out any swimming pools in the area in case they had to use them.

The local towns and businesses have been generous beyond belief.  They showered food and beverage donations upon the fire station for the firefighters, giving in any way they could.  This may be the only area where firefighters will come out of this weighing more. 

In August a group will be running a silent auction to raise funds for the Fire Department; this has been going on for a number of years since the last serious fire in the area.  Last year they raised over $7000.  This year, they added a way of making cash donations, and within just a week or so they have raised $4300.  A local real estate rep has agreed to match those funds.

No structures on Anarchist Mountain have been touched by fire, so no matter how frightening the evacuation may have been, there really was nothing to worry about in the end.  As I say, we have been very lucky.

Let us hope that August is BORING.

 

Thanks for visiting and we hope you are doing well.