People and supplies are starting to trickle back into Williams Lake as the city and regional district prepare for citizens to re-enter the community, evacuated due to threat of wildfires.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 hoping any day now,91裸聊视频� said Mayor Walt Cobb Monday morning.
An evacuation alert has been in place for two weeks while the actual order to evacuate is going on Day 10 for thousands of urban and rural residents in the Cariboo Chilcotin. Residents of fire-threatened communities like 150 Mile House and Wildwood have been out of their homes since since the start of the wildfires Friday July 7.
Sunday evening, July 23, at a checkpoint south of Williams Lake along Highway 97 and Enterprise Road, everyone from water truck drivers, to local doctors, business owners and mechanics with permits travelled through the checkpoints, manned by members of the RCMP and 1 Combat Engineer Regime (1CER) CFB Edmonton, who can be seen throughout the area and in the city working with the RCMP.
91裸聊视频淲e are happy to help,91裸聊视频� said Sgt. Alex Mezenes, who has been with the army 11 years and has previously been deployed to Afghanistan.
91裸聊视频淎s long as there is a need for us, we will be here.91裸聊视频�
Cpl. Brent Kelly, who worked the checkpoint with Mezenes at the Y intersection in Williams Lake Monday morning, said he is happy to be serving in Williams Lake.
91裸聊视频淓verybody has been really receptive and understanding,91裸聊视频� Kelly said. 91裸聊视频淲e are getting all kinds of special treatment from the RCMP and the locals. Everyone91裸聊视频檚 been really nice.91裸聊视频�
The army has been using the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex as their base, where dozens of army vehicles are parked. Members who are out on patrol sleep in tents beside their vehicles while those having a day off can sleep in the arena on cots, and have access to their own kitchen.
W.O. Terry Vandenberghe, who has served 25 years with the Canadian Army and completed two tours to Afghanistan and two to Bosnia, said the members who came to Williams Lake are a fully self-contained unit.
91裸聊视频淲e came out here completely self-sufficient,91裸聊视频� Vandenberghe said.
91裸聊视频淲hat we come in with, we leave with.91裸聊视频�
While the army and RCMP are enforcing the evacuation order, business owners and managers such as the local grocery stores are trying to get up and running.
Save-On-Foods is facing the biggest challenge with reopening.
Following a brief power outage during the evacuation order, compressors went down in the store and spoiled all the food in the freezers, deli and produce departments. As many as 6,000 jugs of milk and all perishables were lost due to the failure, totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost food.
91裸聊视频淯nfortunately it had to go to waste. Very sad,91裸聊视频� said store manager, Paul Eckersley. He said the store was fully stocked when the evacuation alert turned into an order.
91裸聊视频淯ntil we were ordered to evacuate, we wanted to stay open. Everyone needs food and we knew we had to be here.91裸聊视频�
Eckersley said they have managed to get some staff back to assist in emptying and washing the whole store before it reopens.
91裸聊视频淲e need as army to do it and it looks like we91裸聊视频檝e got that today,91裸聊视频� Eckersley said Monday, as he and his staff went to work.
The emergency department at Cariboo Memorial Hospital also opened its doors Monday, another key piece of the puzzle needed to welcome residents home.
The mayor said as everyone prepares to open the city, the fate of when exactly that will be is up to the weather and the fire officials.
Either way, he suspects even when residents return home the threat of fires burning near the city may remain throughout the summer. Exhausted, he is hopeful Williams Lake has seen the worst of it.
91裸聊视频淚 think the worst of it91裸聊视频檚 over. It91裸聊视频檚 gotta be,91裸聊视频� said Cobb. 91裸聊视频淲e can91裸聊视频檛 go on like this.91裸聊视频�
