Through doorbell cameras and telescopes, West Kelowna residents witnessed their homes burn
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When Chris Erickson left his West Kelowna home Thursday as wildfire approached, he made sure to take all the proper steps, shutting off the gas, water and electricity. He did not think it would be the last time he would see his house.
The next day he saw a photo of his home in the Rose Valley neighbourhood in a local newspaper.
“You see just huge flames up in the trees, and at the bottom of the photo, you could see the roof of our house,” he said.
Sadly, Erickson’s home is among those destroyed by the McDougall Creek wildfire.
A neighbour later sent him footage from a doorbell camera that confirmed the damage.
“It’s quite the experience witnessing your house engulfed in flames before it collapses in on itself,” he said from a hotel room in Merritt, B.C. “Watching that is hard.”
Chris Erickson’s home was one of more than 50 structures lost in the McDougall Creek fire in West Kelowna. Erickson watched video footage taken by his neighbour’s doorbell camera of his home in the Rose Valley neighbourhood burning to the ground. Despite losing his residence, Erickson is thanking his neighbours for their kindness and support.
For residents of West Kelowna and other B.C. communities ravaged by wildfire, reality is starting to set in.
B. C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said Monday there are about 27,000 people in the province under an evacuation order due to ongoing wildfires, with another 35,000 people under alert to evacuate on short notice.
Early estimates suggest wildfires burning on both sides of Okanagan Lake have destroyed almost 60 structures in the Kelowna area, officials said Monday.
Fire chiefs from West Kelowna, Kelowna and Lake Country said homes have been destroyed in their communities, with West Kelowna sustaining the most losses and higher numbers still expected.
‘The news shook our hearts’
Heiko Birkefeld learned about his Rose Valley home Saturday after finding someone had set up a telescope to see what was going on in the neighbourhood.
“When I was looking to find the property, I found it, and when I saw it, it was still smoking,” Birkefeld said.
He said he later saw footage shot from a helicopter that showed the smouldering remains of his home.
“The news shook our hearts very hard,” he told CBC News.
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Jason Brolund says firefighters are working back-to-back shifts and coming back covered in black soot as they try to protect homes and bring the McDougall Creek wildfire under control.
West Kelowna resident Seagun Laboucane didn’t expect to see her home in flames on social media.
Laboucane said she turned to Facebook for updates when she saw a photo of what looked like her house on fire. Then she was sent footage of it burned to the ground.
“It didn’t feel real until I saw the extent of damages and the nothingness that was left over,” she told CBC News.
“Everything’s just kind of starting to hit from a perspective of what my future plans were.”
Some of the footage came from her neighbour’s security cameras.
Laboucane said there are 32 houses in her neighbourhood, and they believe 12 of them have burned down.
Some homeowners still waiting to find out
Erickson said it was heartbreaking to see video of his home in flames.
“It was a very odd mix of a deep sense of the bottom just dropped out of everything, and at the same time being like, “OK, well, now we’re clear as to where we stand.”
He said he feels for British Columbians still waiting to learn about the fate of their homes.
West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund said he wants to provide residents worried about their properties and when they can return home with good, safe information.
“We’re going to do it right,” he said. “We’re going to make sure, to the best of our ability, we don’t make mistakes, and we don’t tell someone something that isn’t true.”
West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund reported that firefighting crews are finding addresses on buildings have been burned away, if the entire building itself hadn’t already crumbled, and street signs have melted.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada says all standard homeowner and tenant insurance policies cover damage caused by fires and also provide coverage to help with the cost of mass evacuations.
In a news release, the organization advises anyone forced to flee due to wildfires in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia to make a list of damaged or destroyed items and keep receipts for expenses they incurred.
Erickson says his family is fortunate to have insurance.
He’s also taken comfort from the “profound humanity” that has emerged during a time of crisis.
“Yeah, I’m staring at … the loss of my place. But imagine my neighbour picking up the phone and having to tell me that news,” he said. “What courage and what kindness all at once. I’m just very grateful for the kindness that we’ve seen.”
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