While nearly all residents in Kaleden were allowed to return home at around noon Wednesday after a fire threatened dozens of structures, not everyone was lucky enough to have a home to return to.
Russell Layton91裸聊视频檚 parents own the one home known to have been affected by a blaze that sparked in Kaleden late Tuesday afternoon, but they had been staying at another property in Okanagan Falls.
An initial evacuation order late Tuesday afternoon had 18 homes , while over 160 were on alert. That evacuation order was lifted at around noon on Wednesday, allowing all remaining property owners to return home.
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Layton said his parents stay in Okanagan Falls over the summers, while he stays at the Kaleden property, but he was working when the fire ignited, finding out about the fire in a call from his father.
91裸聊视频淪o my buddy came and picked me up and we tried to come down here to get my truck out of here and my car out of here, but they wouldn91裸聊视频檛 let us through, so I just had to sit out there kind of helpless,91裸聊视频� Layton said.
91裸聊视频淚t was more wondering what91裸聊视频檚 going on, right? You don91裸聊视频檛 know what91裸聊视频檚 going to happen, I don91裸聊视频檛 know where the fire91裸聊视频檚 coming from if it91裸聊视频檚 already taken the house and all the vehicles. That was my main concern.91裸聊视频�
A friend provided a phone number for Layton to call from the Kaleden Fire Department, and a firefighter informed him that all of his vehicles and his boat were fine, but the house had been destroyed.
Before heading to a friend91裸聊视频檚 place to spend the night, Layton said he and some friends decided to try some side roads to catch a glimpse of the fire and see the extent of the damage.
91裸聊视频淲e drove along Eastside (Road) and didn91裸聊视频檛 see anything and thought, OK, let91裸聊视频檚 see if we can get down into Kaleden to see what91裸聊视频檚 going on,91裸聊视频� Layton said. 91裸聊视频淲e got down here and the fire department91裸聊视频檚 like, 91裸聊视频榃ell, how did you get down here?91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
Despite losing his home, Layton had a sense of humour Tuesday afternoon about managing to get past the police and fire officials at around midnight, laughing about the incredulous reaction from the fire department.
91裸聊视频淚 asked if it was OK to look (the house) over, and he kind of guided me around, and it was a just utter shock. Because when I tried to come down here, I wanted to grab some valuables and I wasn91裸聊视频檛 allowed,91裸聊视频� Layton said. 91裸聊视频淟iterally everything that had value to me and my parents is gone.91裸聊视频�
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Layton, who was cleaning up with a pair of friends Tuesday afternoon, said it was lucky that his parents and their dog were in Okanagan Falls when the fire sparked.
91裸聊视频淭hey91裸聊视频檙e about the same as me. They91裸聊视频檙e upset. But there91裸聊视频檚 nothing you can really do; the damage is done,91裸聊视频� Layton said. 91裸聊视频淭ime will tell to see what happens.91裸聊视频�
Layton said he91裸聊视频檚 mostly curious about how the fire started to get a bit of 91裸聊视频減eace of mind91裸聊视频� on what took his home away.
Fire officials said on Tuesday that the fire is believed to be human-caused because it wasn91裸聊视频檛 caused by lightning. But an official cause of the fire is likely to be a long time coming, with crews still on mop-up on the fire.
Acting Fire Chief Denis Gaudry said on Wednesday that the fire is 100 per cent contained at this point, meaning crews have managed to ensure the 6.5-hectare wildfire likely won91裸聊视频檛 spread beyond its current boundaries, save for unforeseen circumstances, like sudden high winds.
But Gaudry still expects some days of work to be done before firefighters can leave the area, with embers flying around and igniting small, smouldering patches. The patchy nature of the fire has meant difficulties for the department, as it has meant a lot of hiking around and searching for what could be small flames or a little smoke, hardly visible until it spreads.
Still, Gaudry said on Wednesday afternoon that he was feeling good about the work that firefighters had done. That work isn91裸聊视频檛 lost on local residents, with everyone who spoke to the Western News giving high praise for the firefighters91裸聊视频� work.
While Layton wasn91裸聊视频檛 so lucky, at least two nearby homeowners, both within metres of Layton, said the fire just skirted their properties, with both losing a combined three sheds.
91裸聊视频淚t probably started somewhere 300, 400 metres south of us. And with the strong winds, it came on our property really quickly. Probably within seconds,91裸聊视频� said Larry Richardson, Layton91裸聊视频檚 next-door neighbour.
Dan Wiebe91裸聊视频檚 daughter91裸聊视频檚 family lives across a small gully from Richardson and Layton, but Wiebe and his wife had arrived at the property mid-afternoon on Tuesday after celebrating his 75th birthday.
With his daughter and her family away, Wiebe said he and his wife were the only ones at the property at the time of the fire, which he said moved 91裸聊视频渉orrendously fast.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淚 heard (my wife) screaming at me, 91裸聊视频楪et up here.91裸聊视频� She said, 91裸聊视频楽omething91裸聊视频檚 wrong: looks like fire,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� Wiebe said. 91裸聊视频淪he couldn91裸聊视频檛 believe her eyes. 91裸聊视频� Looked like the whole forested area and orchard part was blazing.91裸聊视频�
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Wiebe said they 91裸聊视频渟aid a quick prayer91裸聊视频� and headed to the other side of the lake to watch the fire with binoculars, at one point watching one of his daughter91裸聊视频檚 sheds catch fire.
91裸聊视频淪ick,91裸聊视频� he said of the feeling being away from the property while the fire was burning. 91裸聊视频淵ou91裸聊视频檝e totally lost your appetite.91裸聊视频�
Meanwhile, Richardson said he made his way back into Kaleden to help out in any way he could.
91裸聊视频淲hen I arrived, the flames were 20, 30 feet in the air,91裸聊视频� Richardson said. 91裸聊视频淚 came through the blockade to try and save what we could because I was told we probably had lost everything. So, I needed to see for myself, and the house was still standing. So, it was get to work right away.91裸聊视频�
Richardson said it wasn91裸聊视频檛 entirely an act of God that his house didn91裸聊视频檛 catch fire.
91裸聊视频淥ur house didn91裸聊视频檛 burn because several years ago we did Hardie Board and metal roof,91裸聊视频� he said, adding that it was a conscious decision about 12 years ago due to the high risk of fires in the area.
Wiebe, too, said some preparations may have saved his daughter91裸聊视频檚 house, though perhaps of a more coincidental nature.
91裸聊视频淲hat91裸聊视频檚 very interesting about it, our kids left yesterday morning. Overnight, they had run a sprinkler on the roof, thinking, 91裸聊视频榃ell, we91裸聊视频檝e got to wet this thing down just in case something happens,91裸聊视频� Wiebe said.
Still, the blaze made for an uneasy Tuesday night for Wiebe and his wife, who stayed at their son-in-law91裸聊视频檚 parents91裸聊视频� place in Penticton.
91裸聊视频淟ast night wasn91裸聊视频檛 good. It took a while to get to sleep, and I was very restless,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淏ecause it91裸聊视频檚 on my mind how awful this is.91裸聊视频�
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