My City Is On Fire...Literally

[Michael Griffiths]

There are some crazy forest fires in the North West right now...some in Washington and other places in the US. Here in Canada, much of the province of BC is on fire, too. I've been living back in my hometown of Kelowna...and it's literally surrounded by fires on every side. The mountains are covered with dense, dry forest. It hasn't rained here in 4 months...and the conditions have been ripe for disaster. My Aunt's house has been incinerated and our place has been evacuated, along with the entire southern part of the city. About 300 homes are gone, along with the beautiful mountain sides. Kelowna is situated along Okanagan Lake, within BC's Okanagan Valley...one of the most desirable places to live in Canada...or at least, used to be. Here are some pictures from the last few days:

 

[cujo]

Things like this only happen every 500 years. I hope things work out, and there's a reprieve with the weather.

Good luck Griffey.

 

[Angela Harlem]

Take care Michael.

Hope you guys get some rain really soon.

 

[BAW]

ditto what Angie & Cujo said

 

[HeartlandGirl]

I hope everyone stays safe. Take care.

 

[ABEL]

I hope you and everyone are ok and stay safe too. How scary...I can't even imagine what something like that must be like to live through.

 

[AvsGirl41]

Scary. Your poor aunt!

Here's hoping for rain!

 

[Zoomerang96]

ya, its incredible what a little rain would do to help out.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

michael i am sorry to see you and your family have been effected by this. best of luck and i hope you will be able to return to your home soon.

 

[martha]

Wow. Sorry, Michael.

I'll be thinking of you.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

 

[Screaming Flower]

that is so horrible.

you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[~LadyLemon~]

Be safe...

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I've been reading about this online

Oh God, that's so horrible. I hope you will be OK and the fires will stop soon.

So sorry about your Aunt's place

 

[Laura M]

I saw this on the news last night

Hope everything is sorted out soon

 

[Michael Griffiths]

Hey everyone - thanks for the supportive words. I just realized my post sounds as though Kelowna is half destroyed. That's not the case at all. Just the surrounding regions are burning, mostly on the hill sides and toward the South/East. It's mainly the residential/orchard/farming areas on the perimeter that are at stake. A new fire sprouted yesterday morning on the other side of Okanagan Lake, but that has been put out now. The winds have died down today, so we're all hoping it can be contained from this point on...but you just never know what the wind will do. Anyway, all is fine, and so far no one has been hurt to my knowledge.

Thanks again

 

[zonelistener]

Glad you and your family (as well as your house) are all safe!

 

[cass]

Good luck MichaelGriffiths, to you, your family and neighbours.
Your poor aunt, such a great personal loss. I hope she had time to remove the things she held most dear.
It's a familiar scenario in Australia. They were discussing bringing the fire ban period forward again this Spring and making water restrictions permanent, on the radio this morning. They also mentioned the numbers of deaths in France due to the heatwave. It's so sad. This isn't really the time for a discussion about climate change, but we're in this together.
Be careful eh?
to the emergency service workers

 

[Angel]

Michael! Good to hear from you. We were wondering about you in IO in a thread I started over there. I am sooooo sorry for your aunt. I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like.
Watching all the footage just breaks my heart. All those homes and the lovely countryside. I love Kelowna. I hope they manage to stop the fire soon.

 

[verte76]

Gah......how horrible. I hope it rains soon and you can return home.