Lake Country firefighters are happy to be at home after a week of protecting public and private property from the biggest wildfire in the province.
Four Lake Country firefighters returned home after working to rescue homes, radio towers and bridges in the Telegraph Creek area.
The devastating fire in northern BC is the largest in the province and burns 118,318 acres on Saturday morning.
READ MORE: Four fires merge near Telegraph Creek
The group of five: Tom Clements, Paul Hipsey, Chris Casparis, Gary Rawsthorne, and Geoff Evans, who is staying on-site, worked an average of 13.5 hours a day setting up hoses and sprinklers to protect the infrastructure.
There’s a little satisfaction at the end of the day, said Rawsthorne.
“These bridges are so important, if they are not there there is no way out. The river flows into Alaska, ”he said, referring to the Tuya Bridge and another main bridge that crosses the Stikine River.
After setting up the camp in Dease Lake, about 100 kilometers away, the crew started their day with a drive of a few hours to the site.
“The winds have changed a lot. But there were times when the wind changed and blew from the west, and so west of the fire it was an incredible landscape; Gorges and mountains, it was amazing, but when the wind turned you couldn’t see the hills next to us, ”said Hipsey.
Sometimes the fire was so close they had to put it out, said Rawsthorne as he stamped his feet.
“It was by the roadside sometimes,” said Clements.
“It was really frustrating because when you fight fires (in Lake Country) you put them out, but that’s where we got the job of doing the point fires and ignoring the road fires so it was frustrating to drive by. Well you see a fire that you have. I want to put it out, ”Hipsey said.
Despite the nearby fire, safety was the top priority for the crews.
“There have been a few times that we haven’t been scared but there has been a bit of apprehension about where to watch (and be ready to go),” said Hipsey. “There were some crews who were cut off from the fire and had to be flown out, and they had to leave all their equipment and trucks behind. So they always have in the back of their minds that if something goes wrong they’ll kick us out. “
There is more to protecting structures than hosing them down with water, Hipsey said.
“It’s not just about putting on the sprinklers, it’s also about putting poly on so the water doesn’t damage the house,” he said.
Hipsey said they came across a 15-building fishing camp so they had to put in a tubing system to protect it.
“Nothing we protected burned down,” he said, although firefighters saw structures that had already burned as they made their rounds in the area.
READ MORE: Central Okanagan firefighters fight wildfires across BC
Rawsthorne saw this as just another task.
Hipsey said he got into the community spirit trade.
“It has to be done, someone has to do it,” said Hipsey.
Upon their return home, four firefighters: Patrick Schryburt, Cody McKelvey, Thomas Mathesius and Shaun Reed flew to the Telegraph Creek area on Friday to protect the structures. Two firefighters from the Lake Country are also assisting wildfire crews in the Burns Lake area.
@carliberry_
carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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The Lake Country Firefighters left to right: Patrick Schryburt, Cody McKelvey, Thomas Mathesius and Shaun Reed drove to Kelrapha International Airport on Telegraph Creek Friday. – Carli Berry / Capital News
Fireman Paul Hipsey returns home after protecting buildings in the Telegraph Creek area last week. – Carli Berry / Capital News
