Angie Thorne heard about what would come to be known as the Elephant Hill wildfire long before most people did, on the evening of Thursday, July 6.
91裸聊视频淚 got a notification about the fire,91裸聊视频� says Angie, who went out on the front porch of her home on the Ashcroft Reserve. She could see nothing from there, and went out on her back deck, where she could see a glow to the south.
91裸聊视频淚 watched it for a bit, and got a text from [a member of the Ashcroft Volunteer Fire Department], asking what it looked like.91裸聊视频� She sent him a picture via messenger and asked what was happening. 91裸聊视频淗e told me they were waiting for the Forestry and they should be here soon. BC Wildfire Service got there around midnight, and went in with three small vehicles, left, and returned with two larger ones.
91裸聊视频淎round 1:15 a.m. I said to my brother Mark 91裸聊视频業 don91裸聊视频檛 see the glow anymore,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� says Angie. She continued to watch until about 2 a.m., then said to Mark, 91裸聊视频淟et91裸聊视频檚 go for a drive up by the sandpit across from my house and see. We didn91裸聊视频檛 see any indication that the fire was still moving, and I said to Mark 91裸聊视频業 guess it91裸聊视频檚 safe to go to bed.91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
On the morning of July 7 Angie and her brother Dempsey had plans to drive to Kamloops, but stopped at the Band Office on the way. 91裸聊视频淲e didn91裸聊视频檛 see anything at first; then there was thick black smoke. I said 91裸聊视频榃e91裸聊视频檇 better get our butts home; this doesn91裸聊视频檛 look good.91裸聊视频� It was moving fast, with lots of black smoke and flames.91裸聊视频�
Angie called her husband Randy, who was at work at the Basque Ranch, and rushed back to the house, where Angie lived with Randy, Dempsey, her daughter Kelsey, her granddaughter Nevaeh, and her son Andrew. 91裸聊视频淲e stopped on the way to the house and saw Mark, and I asked if he got his family out. Everyone was in a panic.91裸聊视频�
When Angie arrived at her house, family and friends were there to help. Angie threw some clothes into her fifth-wheel vehicle with their help, then saw smoke on the other side of the knoll across the road from her house, and told everyone they had to get out.She drove to her father91裸聊视频檚 house on the reserve and found him trying to get up on the roof to water down the house. 91裸聊视频淚 told him to get down. I91裸聊视频檒l never forget the look my dad had on his face. It was one of fear, and seeing me in fear he got down and proceeded into the house to gather up Ruth and Shawn.91裸聊视频�
Despite the smoke being so thick she didn91裸聊视频檛 think she91裸聊视频檇 make it round the corner, Angie says there were already looky-loos driving through the reserve, taking pictures. She made it to the bridge in Ashcroft, where she and Crystal Daniels, one of the helpers, started to stop vehicles from going up towards the reserve. 91裸聊视频淪ome people were like 91裸聊视频榃e just want to take pictures.91裸聊视频� We were telling them it91裸聊视频檚 dangerous, and advised against it. But some didn91裸聊视频檛 listen, and still proceeded. The RCMP arrived and took over the task, and weren91裸聊视频檛 allowing anyone up that way.
91裸聊视频淥ne policeman asked if [the fire] could have been from asparagus burning. He obviously hadn91裸聊视频檛 been here long, because anyone that has been here for a long time knows that91裸聊视频檚 done in April/May.91裸聊视频�
Randy called, to say he was at the house, and Angie told police she had to go see if her husband was okay. Randy, like her father before him, was up on the roof, and Angie told him to get down. She headed back to Ashcroft, thinking that Randy was following with their truck and trailer. She waited 10 minutes, but there was no sign of Randy.
91裸聊视频淚 was going to go back up, even though the police said it was dangerous,91裸聊视频� says Angie. 91裸聊视频淭hen I saw him come around the corner.91裸聊视频� She found out later that Randy had taken the truck and trailer through the sand, where he briefly got stuck.
91裸聊视频淩andy thought he had time, but he didn91裸聊视频檛. Thank God Nevaeh went with friends. She would have been traumatized.91裸聊视频�
Angie says that 27 people lost their homes on the reserve that day: three children under the age of nine; 13 males; and 11 females. Eight of the adults were elders. Eleven members of Angie91裸聊视频檚 family were directly affected.
Angie says she had an emotional breakdown when they returned to Ashcroft. They decided to drive to the Legacy Park, where they set up their trailer, and soon many community members had come to the park.
91裸聊视频淓veryone started congregating at our camp. People had no place to go.91裸聊视频�
Community members brought a spaghetti dinner for everyone, but Angie says that most of the plates and cutlery from the trailer were up at the house, as they needed cleaning after a recent trip. 91裸聊视频淭here was no power, and cell service wasn91裸聊视频檛 good. People in the family were freaking out, because they didn91裸聊视频檛 know if everyone was okay.
91裸聊视频淚t was pretty scary: people didn91裸聊视频檛 know where other community members were.91裸聊视频�
Volunteers from Samaritan91裸聊视频檚 Purse went with Angie to the site of her house, to see if they could recover any items. 91裸聊视频淚 didn91裸聊视频檛 think they91裸聊视频檇 find much, but we found a few items. There was a rock with my granddaughter91裸聊视频檚 footprint painted on it. I don91裸聊视频檛 know how it survived. She made it when she was two, and she91裸聊视频檚 nine now.91裸聊视频�
Angie, Randy, Kelsey, and Nevaeh are currently being billeted in a house on the Mesa in Ashcroft. The billeting came via Emergency Social Services (ESS) until January 31, 2018, at which time Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada took over. Angie says there has been little communication from the band about what is happening regarding replacement houses for those who lost their homes.
91裸聊视频淲e were told in October that the band wasn91裸聊视频檛 ready for a housing meeting yet, and there91裸聊视频檚 been nothing since. There91裸聊视频檚 a lot of frustration. The ESS and Emergency Operation Centre were very helpful, and we were having meetings every two weeks.
91裸聊视频淲e thought things were going well. But when people got back into the band office, no one paid attention to us, and there91裸聊视频檚 no support of any kind.
91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e looking for a concrete statement about housing. We want to be involved in the process. We shouldn91裸聊视频檛 have to be running around looking for information; it should flow to us, and be respectful. And a lot of elders don91裸聊视频檛 have Facebook or email, so they91裸聊视频檙e relying on me to be their eyes and ears.91裸聊视频�
She says she has heard that the triplex on the reserve 91裸聊视频� the newest building on the site, and which was destroyed in the fire 91裸聊视频� will not be replaced, and wonders what will happen to the three people who were living there.
91裸聊视频淎ll the community members are affected, and it91裸聊视频檚 very stressful to try to answer questions we don91裸聊视频檛 know the answers to. It91裸聊视频檚 also very frustrating for our members to try to move forward without a big part of the plan. What does forward look like?91裸聊视频�
Angie says the children have really been impacted by the fire, and that she is setting up some extra support for Nevaeh at school. 91裸聊视频淪he has good days and bad days. She lost her dog, and sometimes she gets triggered and breaks down. We91裸聊视频檙e arranging some emotional and mental support for her.91裸聊视频�
In the meantime, Angie says that she and her family and the other community members are just trying to live day to day and deal with their emotions.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 frustrating to sit with elders, who are crying. There are 13 males, all single, all living in hotels. My dad is in a kitchenette. It91裸聊视频檚 tough on them.
91裸聊视频淪ome are in rooms at the River Inn, and they say 91裸聊视频楴o one cares, I have no home to go to.91裸聊视频� When you hear these stories it91裸聊视频檚 very frustrating.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 starting to get personal, with all the family members involved. The mental, emotional strain; it91裸聊视频檚 almost unbearable.91裸聊视频�
Angie pauses for a few moments. 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 sorry to cry,91裸聊视频� she says at last. 91裸聊视频淏ut 11 of the 27 people affected are my immediate family. We live it every day.
91裸聊视频淲e just want to be a part of the communication piece to help ease our minds and emotions about the situation we are all still living.91裸聊视频�
editorial@accjournal.ca
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