Les Murzsa says he spent more than a decade focusing his time and savings on building the off-grid home he hoped to own for most of his adult life.
One project at a time, he renovated the log cabin at the south end of Green Mountain Road, near Keremeos, British Columbia, until there was only one job left: finishing the new roof.
Murzsa was in the process of installing the last shingles when a forest fire swept through the area on Friday and destroyed the entire house, leaving its owner with only a pile of ashes.
“My house burned so thoroughly and completely that there is literally six inches of dust on the ground. It’s completely gone,” Mursa, 50, said.
“I can clean my house with a rake.”
Mursza, who escaped and went to a hotel, is the only person so far to have lost his home in what is known as Forest fire in Keremeos Creek. The fire, burning about 21 kilometers southwest of Penticton, is still estimated at almost 28 square kilometers – an area six times the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park.
The southwest corner of the Keremeos Creek wildfire is pictured Tuesday. As of Wednesday, the fire was one of five notable fires in British Columbia (Supplied by BC Wildfire Service)
Mursa says he smelled the fire before he saw it on Friday.
“I opened my window for some fresh air and immediately smelled smoke. I thought that was a really bad sign on a hot, sunny 40 degree day, so I looked out the window and saw the start of the fire. it was just a small, maybe five-acre fire with a little white smoke,” he said, speaking in an interview from the hotel where he has been staying since losing his home.
“The winds picked up and, unfortunately, the fire just started heading straight for my area. Eventually it started crawling down to the road and was right across the street from my house.
“It just started raining ash over my property and the firemen came and told me to get out of the area and shortly after that my house burned to the ground.”
Mursa said he packed important documents, some clothes, his favorite guitars and a collection of harmonicas into his car and fled before the flames reached his property. All else was lost, he said.
The house and its contents were not insured because of the building’s remote location, near the foot of Mount Apex, he added.
Mursza has been staying in a hotel since Friday, with expenses covered by BC Emergency Services. In a few days, he’ll move into a friend’s house while he figures out his next move.
“People have been calling me, people I haven’t heard from in 30 years,” he said. “The support has been really good.”
The teams are hoping for cooler weather
The fire is one of dozens that have broken out across the province in the past week, many sparked by thousands of lightning strikes over the weekend. The British Columbia Wildfire Service said 75 percent of fires this season were caused by lightning, an increase from the normal seasonal average of 60 percent.
Authorities are hoping to take advantage of Wednesday’s cooler weather to battle the wildfires, most of which are concentrated in the Kamloops fire center area in the southern interior.
The fire service’s dashboard shows there have been 151 new fires across the province in the past seven days, but most of them are either extinguished, under control or contained by firefighters.
Nearly half of the new fires were started in the Kamloops Fire Center area. Nine of them are still considered out of control.
The Keremeos fire has prompted evacuation orders for 324 properties, with another 479 properties under evacuation alert. On Wednesday, the British Columbia Wildfire Service said the fire was still out of control and expected to continue to grow.
A total of 144 firefighters and eight helicopters are battling the blaze, along with heavy equipment.
The fire caused intermittent closures of Highway 3A. Anyone traveling through the area should check DriveBC before you leave.
WATCH | Uncertainty, concern in Keremeos area as forest fire spreads:
A growing wildfire in southern British Columbia prompts more evacuations
A growing wildfire prompted more evacuations in southern British Columbia, with authorities urging people to obey orders.
Other fires of note
Another significant wildfire inland, the Nohomin Creek fire northwest of Lytton, still growing “steadily” in steep, rocky terrain. The latest estimate of its size is 37 square kilometers.
Three other fires have been upgraded to noteworthy, meaning they are highly visible or pose a potential threat to public safety:
- The Connell Ridge fire, about 15 kilometers south of Cranbrook, is about five square kilometers in size.
- The Watching Creek fire is about 16 kilometers northwest of Kamloops, about two square kilometers in size.
- The Maria Creek Fire is about 30 kilometers northwest of Cash Creek, about 10 square kilometers in size.
- The Briggs Creek fire is about 12 kilometers west of Kaslo, about 15 square kilometers in size.
A water bomber makes a forced landing
On Tuesday, a water bomber helping to fight wildfires made an emergency landing after an engine failure.
The British Columbia Wildfire Service said the contracted Conair 802 Air Tractor Fireboss Skimmer aircraft experienced problems during operations on the Connell Ridge wildfire, near Cranbrook, British Columbia
The pilot was able to safely make an emergency landing and was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation, according to a statement.
The Connell Ridge wildfire is currently about 1.5 square kilometers in size.
On Thursday, all campfires will be prohibited in the Coastal Fire Center Thursday, which includes the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Sea-Sky Corridor and the Sunshine Coast, but excludes Haida Gwaii.
Similar, pre-announced bans will take effect for the Southeast Fire Center and Kamloops Fire Center regions on the same day.
Map showing the various regional fire centers in British Columbia. (BC Wildfire Service)
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