Security and stability were threatened again and again last summer as BC survived forest fires and floods that destroyed communities and took lives.
And this provoked different reactions.
“There’s really no wrong way to answer,” said Kelsey Murrin, a registered clinical adviser in Vancouver.
She said she saw more and more people dealing with extreme weather injuries.
Three communities, Logan Lake, Nicomen Indian Band and Spius Creek, were all affected by the 2021 climate disaster, but had different responses and are moving forward on their own paths.
Logan Lake
Logan Fire Chief Doug Wilson remembers it as if it were the Tremont Creek wildfire yesterday forcing his entire city to leave their homes. He and his team watched the flames approach, and they mobilized to bring about 2,000 residents to safety.
“We knew it was a matter of when it would hit, not whether,” he said.
Dozens of fire crews from British Columbia and Alberta have been called in to help fight the blaze. Sprinklers previously installed on top of homes have been used well, obscuring houses and preventing the spread of fire.
City Emergency Program Coordinator Chris Candy says there are still memories of the fire.
“The smell of smoke, I mean, will never go away, but that’s the way it is.”
No home was killed in the fire. Six days later, residents were allowed to return.
The fire was released around Logan Lake, British Columbia, on Saturday, August 14, 2021 (Doug Wilson)
Many have found their homes covered in red flame retardant, and to this day some places still have a red tinge.
But Gene Finley says it doesn’t matter – her home is still there and her community is thriving.
“Everyone is so grateful because they know what could have happened,” said Finley, who works for Logan Lake County.
“There are not enough words to say how grateful we are.”
Jean Finley and her husband Delbert are grateful to the firefighters who helped save their home from a wildfire last summer. (Sarah Penton / CBC)
Wilson said the city’s sprayer system continues to grow and by the end of 2022, half of homes will have sprinklers installed.
He feels confident about Logan Lake’s future.
“I am very confident that if something happens again, like this situation, the result will be the same. We will be in good shape.”
Radio West17: 54Floods, Fires and the Future: Logan Lake
Radio West launches Floods, Fires and the Future, and Sarah Penton visits Logan Lake, British Columbia, to hear how the city has been saved from a devastating wildfire and how the community is filled with gratitude and hope for the coming summer. 17:54
Sleep Creek
Merritt, 48km south of Lake Logan, was hit by extreme weather twice last year: a wildfire lit up the Nico Valley, and a few months later the town and surrounding areas were evacuated when catastrophic rainfall caused dangerous flooding.
In both cases, the Chevers family was in trouble.
Fires meant you had to evacuate their family ranch in Spius Creek, including livestock. When it rained, the family home on the same property was almost washed away.
The house was about 50 meters from the water’s edge. Now the river flows under the main house.
Adrian, left, and Wade Cheevers are staying at their family property near Spius Creek. The water behind them was about 50 meters. (Sarah Penton / CBC)
Adrian Chivers and his uncle Wade visit the Lower Continent on the weekends and work little by little to try to repair the damage.
– Where to start? Said Chivers. “I mean, it was all grass and beautiful structures… how to fix it? You can not.”
The Cheever family struggled to get answers and help from the government. The property is not insured and the future of their family home is uncertain.
They are disappointed.
“This is my grandmother’s life,” said Adrian Chevers. “This is where she wakes up every day.”
The future remains uncertain as they expect information from different levels of government on how they are allowed to proceed.
“It’s still in the air, which is difficult,” said Wade Cheevers.
Radio West12: 03Floods, Fires and the Future: Spius Creek
The second part of our special series, Floods, Fires and the Future, takes Sarah to Spius Creek to reconnect with the Chevers family, whose property was hit by more than one disaster last year. 12:03
Nicomen Indian Group
There is only one way to enter and exit the Nicomen Indian Reservation, a steep, gravel road that meets a bridge that was washed away by floods in November, leaving the community cut off.
They had evacuated earlier this summer when the fire that destroyed Lytton was approaching, and they could not return until six weeks later. When the floods came, Chief Norman Drynock said his men, especially some elders, did not want to leave.
“Not knowing what might happen after we leave, what we will be at the mercy of while we were here in our own homes. We had water, we had electricity and we had enough food to last for a while,” he said.
The leader of the Indian group Nicomen Norman Drainok says that his people are preparing for everything that could happen to them this summer. (Sarah Penton / CBC)
Group member Holly Edwards said it was difficult because they had no food, but she did not want to be anywhere but where she is now: at home.
“It’s definitely part of you,” she said. “You carry it with you. But nothing can improve it when you’re there, because then you can smell sage and taste the fruit we pick and see the pines and fir trees.”
The Nycomen Indian group chose to stay as floods soared last fall. They were evacuated for six weeks during the summer and did not want to leave their homes and land, even when it literally slipped away. (Sarah Penton / CBC)
Drynock says they are preparing before summer, making sure they have enough gas to use if they are stopped again, as well as a supply of food and other basic consumables.
He says he is proud of his community for overcoming this and feels comfortable with everything the future holds.
Edwards agrees and says that the people of the first nations are adaptable, so they will be able to withstand everything that Mother Nature brings.
“I think everything will be fine,” she said.
“Yes, we have experienced some traumatic events, but so have our ancestors. Our ancestors have survived many different things. And we will survive many different things.”
Radio West18: 22Floods, Fires and the Future: Nobody’s Indian Band
In the last part of our special series, Floods, Fires and the Future, Sarah heads to the Nicomen Indian Band Reserve near Lytton, a community that was evacuated due to wildfires and later cut off as a result of flooding. 18:22
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