[BRAH]

_______________________

Yes, one should have a Home Emergency Kit for wherever you live.

[BartSimpson]

Anyone hear from Mowich today?

[Mowich]

I am safe and well and still here. There is a lot of disinformation floating around here but I got the latest from a friend who was talking to an RCMP officer at the roadblock on Canim/Hendrix Road. Yes, the fire did jump the highway last night, but they were able to put out anything burning at the 103 and the fire is now back on the west side of the highway. If it does breach it would take about 3 days - depending on wind conditions - to reach us. So all is calm and well for now. My car is packed with my valuables and necessities for myself and my pets and I am ready to go at a moment's notice. I want to thank everyone again for their good wishes and suggestions as to things I should be taking care of. I will update as necessary.

[BartSimpson]

Mowich Mowich:

I am safe and well and still here. There is a lot of disinformation floating around here but I got the latest from a friend who was talking to an RCMP officer at the roadblock on Canim/Hendrix Road. Yes, the fire did jump the highway last night, but they were able to put out anything burning at the 103 and the fire is now back on the west side of the highway. If it does breach it would take about 3 days - depending on wind conditions - to reach us. So all is calm and well for now. My car is packed with my valuables and necessities for myself and my pets and I am ready to go at a moment's notice. I want to thank everyone again for their good wishes and suggestions as to things I should be taking care of. I will update as necessary.

I've got friends in Auburn, California who dodged a bullet last night when a fire neared their home. God bless the people from Cal Fire who used their massive jet bomber to put retardant directly on Amanda's house! The place is all red now but it's still there!!!

[Strutz]

Mowich Mowich:

I am safe and well and still here. There is a lot of disinformation floating around here but I got the latest from a friend who was talking to an RCMP officer at the roadblock on Canim/Hendrix Road. Yes, the fire did jump the highway last night, but they were able to put out anything burning at the 103 and the fire is now back on the west side of the highway. If it does breach it would take about 3 days - depending on wind conditions - to reach us. So all is calm and well for now. My car is packed with my valuables and necessities for myself and my pets and I am ready to go at a moment's notice. I want to thank everyone again for their good wishes and suggestions as to things I should be taking care of. I will update as necessary.

Good to hear Mowich. I certainly hope all goes well for you and your community. Sending positive thoughts and prayers in your direction. Please be sure to let us know how you are doing and know that many in our little community here care.


I had a customer today tell me that a family member of his have lost everything in 108. And a co-worker's friend hasn't heard from her sister since she was evacuated from Ashcroft...

[herbie]

Ohhhh I'm getting fed up with the bone stupid.
Agggghhhh!!! I can SEE the fire the campsite's burning!
No you can see the smoke plume, not the fire. Coming from behind at least one hill and the plume's blowing the other way. You're 20 miles away from the fire and between it and the campsite that's 5 miles that way.
Oh Jeez there's only one way out - rushes to gas station to join 300 other panicking idiots.

48 hour of this nonsense now. They look and can't see, run because someone said they know so and so who got an evacuation order so therefore they must've been missed and are late to evacuate!
No one got an order. Some ppl 30 minutes south on the highway got alerts. The alert area did get extended. In another direction where there are no people.
The old lady's boss and wife came for BBQ last night, come from aways scared shitless. Had to calm them and welcome them to the small town rumour mill.

[herbie]

Just had to share this meme. Too nasty not too!

[Hyack]

And in Calgary, for the first time in the history of the Calgary Stampede, the Chuckwagon races had to be cancelled due to a torrential downpour.......

[Mowich]

$1:

Good to hear Mowich. I certainly hope all goes well for you and your community. Sending positive thoughts and prayers in your direction. Please be sure to let us know how you are doing and know that many in our little community here care.

You are a good, kind person Strutz and your words touch my heart.

It's been a long day and I have a much deeper understanding of what others go through in similar situations. I had no idea of how tiring it is being in a holding pattern. There is nowhere to go unless to visit with friends but most of us are reluctant to be away for any length of time right now. We are dependent upon and most thankful for the independent grocery stores as they will be our main source of supplies for days to come, I imagine. However, they cannot provide laundry or banking services. Our mail delivery has been suspended for the foreseeable future as the main distribution center in 100 Mile House is shut-down. Many of us with iffy wells rely on quick fill water services in the town. They are cheap and there's rarely a line-up. Pre-bottled water is available in the local stores but it's really pricey when you are used to paying a buck for the same quantity. It's things like this that keep popping up all day reminding us that though thankfully we are safe for now, life has already changed drastically around us.

$1:

I had a customer today tell me that a family member of his have lost everything in 108. And a co-worker's friend hasn't heard from her sister since she was evacuated from Ashcroft...

We are only hearing anecdotal accounts of houses and properties being lost to the fire. Nothing official yet. I know of 2 properties at the 108 and 1 for sure, maybe 2 at the 105 that didn't avoid the flames. I haven't heard from my friends since they were evacuated last night. They were on their way down to Kamloops to stay with another friend. I imagine they had a busy day facing long line-ups as they waited to register.

[Mowich]

Went to Forest Grove this morning to gas up my car before they run out again. Found many of the shelves bare of groceries and the coolers bare of milk, etc. They have no idea when another supply truck will get through. Canim Lake store is in a worse position as the owner needs a permit in order to have supply trucks escorted into the area and the shelves there are even barer. She has so far been unable to reach the person who can issue the permits as he is so busy coordinating emergency services especially now that Williams Lake is on the edge of being evacuated. If these two stores run out of groceries our only recourse is to drive all the way to Kamloops to stock up and that place is pretty busy right now and a very long way to go for groceries. Otherwise, except for really thick smoke and lots of ash we are all hanging in here and hoping for the best.

[BartSimpson]

Good to hear you're safe!

[herbie]

Oh God, 40 odd years later and people don't know the metric system. And instantly forget how damn big this province is.
Last night the news reporter accidentally stated 'the fire has grown to 8 square millimetres'.
They're using hectares officially and I presume they meant to say kilometres.

OMG the fire here's grown to 140 quadrillion square millimetres! We're ALL gonna die!
I promise not to post that on FB... some people would have heart attacks.

BTW when I was posting directions to my sister in 70 Mile when the main highway was blocked, a helpful friend of hers in California posted to ask 'can't you just get home through the States?'.

[housewife]

Mowich stay safe and keep us updated. We worry

[BartSimpson]

A lot of Americans who live in small states like Massachusetts or Hawaii simply have no grasp of the scale of large expanses like what you have in Canada or even what we have in California.

I had my cousins girls out to visit last year and the two of them ambitiously informed that one particular Saturday we'd have breakfast in San Francisco, go walking in Yosemite, and then be at Disneyland for the late afternoon.

My reaction was

Even Mrs. Bart thought it would be a day's drive and back from Vancouver to Banff until I told her that was about the same distance as San Francisco to Yellowstone.

Canada is huge and people down here just can't even begin to imagine it.

[herbie]

Invited some friends to that cabin at 70 Mile to fish when we used to live in Burnaby. THe wife was from Bermuda (fart one end of that country and smell it at the other), hubby was French. Stopped in Cache Creek for lunch, she was complaining that she'd never driven so far in her life.
He laughed at her and said that it was like if they were in Marseille and decided to go hunting - in Moscow!
There's a stretch of Hwy16 from Prince George (on 97 north/south) to McBride (on Hwy 5 north/south), 210 kms. No towns. No gas stations. All thru the bush. Stopped at a clearing once to pee. A cop car pulled in and I thought I might be in for it, but it stopped a bit away and the cop just nodded, turned and peed too.
It's now the recommended route for people in central BC to head south.

People are talking about the Martin Mars, there's only one left undergoing refit. The fire near us is just at one end of Fraser Lake, one of the few lakes those big suckers can use. They were stationed out of there a few years ago.