Jul 15, 2017

Fire watch, unconfirmed reports of multiple homes lost……

…just down the road from us.  Perhaps 7 – 10km away.  The international airport just a few miles from here has been shut down since 5PM.  It is only open to the many many aircraft landing to refuel and to load up with more fire retardant.

The fire has now been burning for close to five hours.  Over 100 – 150 homes have been evacuated with a moments notice.  No time to do anything but get in your car and drive away.

I need to download my photos….new post soon.

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Jul 13, 2017

We had some wiener dogs visit us

A few evenings ago Rollo ( a chocolate doxie ) and Jayce came to visit us and the girls.  We had to explain about the girls.

We met this family several years ago. They are from Calgary, Alberta and RV here almost every year and when they do we get together a few times.  I have mentioned them in posts years past.

Like our girls they like to stay close to each other.  Rollo moved just as I snapped the shot.  It was a bittersweet visit.  We know that they are leaving tomorrow but we could not bring ourselves to visit with them another time.  It is still too difficult for us.

We found out that Jayce only loves to play with balls and so Colin brought out Carmeh’s favorite for him to play with.  It moves because of a battery in it.  Carmeh was able to turn the ball on or off just by using her toe nail.  She was so very clever.  At first Jayce was perplexed by this constantly moving ball but he eventually began to touch it.  When they left he looked longingly at the ball, he wanted to take it home.  Sorry Jayce.

The winds blew in the right direction for us today.  Colin was able to get 1.5 jobs done.  If the clouds clear in Vancouver tonight he will be off very early in the AM to do a large size helicopter aerial job.  Fingers crossed please.  This is a really important one.

I was happy to see this headline late this afternoon.  Meanwhile I read about another incident where several passerby stopped and with their feet stamped out a road side fire likely caused by a…..butt!

However the fires aren’t anywhere near close to becoming under control.  Strong winds are in the forecast for the weekend.  No rain in the forecast.  I can’t imagine a career as a wildfire  firefighter, it must be brutal.  My nephew from Alberta is one of them.  For all I know he might be here helping fight these fires.

Thanks for taking the time to stop in and check the Que Pasa of it all.

 

UPDATE…less than 2 hours after posting, these dogs and their parents came by.  I had forgotten that we had lent them fencing material to keep their dogs on their site and they were returning it.  Apparently Mom ordered a dog thrower on Amazon yesterday ($130.00 ) for Jayce.  Lucky dog 😀    It was a very difficult visit for me and I am still weeping.  They are not from Calgary but from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.  Safe travels……

 

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Jul 12, 2017

The calm before the fires

Last week, the night before the full moon, we sat outside and watched the moon rise.  It was a clear night and the air was pure and sweet.

A peek inside our home from the patio.

The geese were out enjoying the evening with a late night swim.

A few days earlier Colin had rearranged our rocks displaced by the flood and set up our outdoor rope lights.

The next night was the full moon. Little did we know that that was the end of sitting outside and just enjoying our yard.

As of this morning there are 14,365 evacuees.  The City of Williams Lake alone, has 10,000 people on evacuation alert.  As of this morning there are 163 wildfires burning.  78,000 hectares of land has burned in the province of BC since April 1st.  Finally, just this afternoon the fire closest to us in Princeton is 10% under control.  The forecast is for heavy wind and thunderstorms.

Today we had a bit of a break and saw some blue sky, but as per above that won’t last long.

Meanwhile today a barge has started the clean up of Lake Okanagan.  Much debris is floating about in the form of broken docks, unregistered and unclaimed boats, barrels and trees.  Our province is in a mess.

First the City of Kelowna was under a state of emergency because of the flooding and now the entire Province of BC is under a state of emergency due to the fires.  Meanwhile closer to home, ground water is rising in yet another area of our park.  Trucks continue to pump out our sewage treatment plant.  If that is compromised we will all be evicted from our homes.  It appears that the solution is simply one of rerouting a large creek 😯  Not an easy feat.   Oh, the RV remains at Freightliner and it appears that the steering issue may have been located.  The final figures are not in but they will be high 🙁

Will it ever end?

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Jul 10, 2017

We only see smoke and smell smoke

Normally the wildfire season does not begin until the end of July and continues through most of August.  It is early this year.  Our province/state is burning.  Personally that means that our business is totally affected.  Everyone wants perfect blue sky in their commercial photos.  Not going to happen.  Each year it gets worse.  I came across this very long article but most interesting about the causes of climate change.  In fact it outlines the future of the world as we know it and it portrays a frightening future.  Click here to read it.  It was published in the New York Magazine yesterday on July 9th.

I took this photo 48 hours ago. My purpose was to show you the interesting contours in the landscape and the variations of colour.  Usually at this time of year there is no green, just drab dried out grass.

I took the almost exact photo just two hours ago.  All one sees is smoke.  Of course the smell is thick and heavy.  Your eyes begin to sting and water the moment you step outside.

Our province has at least 225 fires burning.  Very few of them are under control.  This particular fire grew by 33% overnight.

Province wide over 8,500 people have been evacuated.  That could actually be 8,500 homes, I am not sure which it is.  Air tankers are on the way from Saskatchewan.  As are over 300 firefighters from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick to come help us.

I am not sure what this is but it circled a while before being cleared to land at the airport.  It is a huge beast.  Three Canadian Forces Griffon helicopters have already been sent here but they are somewhat smaller.  Other aircraft are on their way to carry emergency personal & equipment.  Locals airlines are decreasing their fares so that evacuees can head to other locations to be with friends or family.

The wonderful people who live in Fort McMurray are sending supplies to help those who have been evacuated.  We all helped them last summer when their town burned due to a wildfire.  I have no idea how the BC emergency personal are handling all of this.  They are still not quite done with the flooding and now this.

This was taken yesterday.  Just two days ago we awoke to a light dusting on ash on our vehicles.

Today, it is worse.  We can no longer even see the mountains.

There is no rain in the forecast.  I am willing to bet anything that those forecasted sunny days will be smoke filled.

Our province is a magnet for tourists in the summer.  Everyone wants to come and visit Beautiful B.C.  They come to camp and enjoy campfires.  They come to ATV.  They are smokers who mostly throw their butts out the window.  Gee we just had a fire down the road last night caused by a tossed butt. Fortunately a province wide campfire ban has been issued.  Now we need to issue an ATV ban ( their sparks are the causes of many fires. ) and to issue a no smoking ban.  Granted some of the fires north of us have been caused by lightening strikes but the majority are human caused.  Perhaps  B.C. should issue a non resident ban for the months of July and August.

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Jul 07, 2017

From bad to worse

First we had the floods and now we have the fires.  BC is burning.  Fire season is here.

There are several fires all over the province.  In fact the new fire base facility in Williams Lake that Colin was sent to photograph in early June in now surrounded on all four sides by fire and at any moment they will have to evacuate the base as the runway is under fire at one end.

Meanwhile here in our park the ground water continues to rise. They have now started pumping out the parks sewage treatment plant. The ground water is now cropping up everywhere including the vegetable gardens.

I tried to find some beauty during my morning walk.

The water in the streets is now smelling putrid.  I wash my feet after every walk.  People with dogs are being cautioned to keep their dogs away from the standing water…Beaver Fever has been mentioned among other things.

Found this cute guy just hanging about.

I spoke to the owner of this condo.  She was evacuated as we were, however her life is far from returning to normal.  She looks out onto a few rows of sand bags and a road full of silt damp with ground water and listens to the not so quiet noise of two pumps working to get that water out of the area.  I told her that her lovely flower garden was an oasis in the mess.  I didn’t take a closer photo as I wanted to respect her privacy.

I had never met her before but today we exchanged names.  We were survivors of the flood.  As I turned to leave she asked where my dogs where.  I simply said that we had to leave them behind in Mexico and that I couldn’t discuss it.  Even now as I type this I have tears.

That is Caeli in the lead which is/was a first.  Carmeh is/was trying to keep up.

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