Evacuees can return home after Kamloops wildfires brought ‘under control’

KAMLOOPS (NEWS 1130) — Evacuees impacted by two wildfires near Kamloops have been told they are allowed to go home.

Two separate lightning strikes ignited the fires below the community of Juniper Ridge Thursday night.

The fire moved rapidly and the City of Kamloops says it quickly threatened homes on both the upper and lower flanks, and evacuations were ordered for the Valleyview and Juniper Ridge communities as a result.

John Cantelo lives in Juniper Ridge and says he had to make the call pretty quickly to get his wife and son in the car.

“I went to my back deck and the sky was orange. The fire was what seemed to be a couple blocks away from my neighbours’, kind of coming up the hill,” he described.

But when he tried to leave with his wife and son, there was an immediate setback.

“We couldn’t get out of the driveway for about 20 minutes. There was a traffic jam … it was like two kilometres to the traffic circle, which goes down a hill, which is the only way out,” he said, adding it made an already stressful situation worse.

“You could see the stress in people’s eyes. A couple of kids visibly upset, a few people kind of in tears,” he said.

Cantelo feels if homes are going to keep being built in the area, the mayor and council need to factor in the reality of wildfires and create more than one route out of town.

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Friday, the fire was successfully brought under control. Although residents can return home, fire crews are asking they stay far away from the firefighting area to ensure crews can do their job to knock down hot spots.

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No homes were lost in the blaze, something the City of Kamloops called “heroic” and thanked the efforts of the men and woman of the Kamloops Fire Rescue, Kamloops RCMP, and the BC Wildfire Service.

The good news came following a stressful night for residents, who were told to seek shelter with friends and family.

In addition, people and businesses in the area were told to stop all irrigation and to save the water for fire crews.

A total of 20 BC Wildfire Service and Kamloops Fire Rescue workers remained on site overnight.

Anyone experiencing trauma as a result of the wildfire is urged to reach out to HealthLinkBC.ca

With files from Dean Recksiedler

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