Sunday, August 20, 2023: Fire!
Info:
In the very south of British Columbia lies the Okanagan Valley, Canada’s fruit and wine-growing region, and its landscape reminds me of Lake Garda. Due to the mild, dry climate it is very popular as a vacation region, and also many pensioners settle here.
About 360,000 people live in the area, with the largest cities being Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon and West Kelowna.
On August 17, 2023, a fire broke out on McDougall Creek near West Kelowna, causing the evacuation of large portions of the city and destroying 189 homes.
The small town of Osoyoos sits right on the border with Washington state and on Canada’s warmest lake, which occasionally reaches 24 degrees Celsius (75 F). North of Osoyoos there is the only hot desert in Canada.
My opinion:
My view was a little clouded by the smoke. The area is beautiful.
Diary:
Always these decisions! Vancouver or Okanagan Valley?
I didn’t feel like a big city after Alaska, I was already having trouble coping with the “many” people as I headed south. So I decided to go to Okanagan. By the way, this is stressed on the third syllable: OkaNAgan.
I didn’t feel like organizing either, so I started from Stewart without knowing where I would spend the night. At Fraser Lake there was this sign with a camper on it. I turned. The city of the same name provided a plot of land directly on the lake, where you could stay for free. This was not only very nice, but practical because my campground neighbor was a California pot farmer who gave me valuable tips for my onward journey – what I absolutely had to see and what I could skip.
The further south I went, the drier the landscape became. I was looking forward to Okanagan, where I had been 35 years ago, and had very fond memories of the valley.
In West Kelowna I actually found a campground, although I had not made a reservation. But it was the only free site.
In the afternoon I was sitting comfortably by Okanagan Lake. When I turned around and looked in the direction where the campsite was, there was suddenly a cloud of smoke rising from the hill behind.
The locals thought it was nothing, besides, the wind was going in the direction of the fire. The fire didn’t seem to care about the wind. That night we watched the forest burn on the hill – on our side of the hill. It was simply creepy to see the flames in the darkness. Incredible how high the fire blazed above the trees!
My camping neighbors explained to me exactly what to do in case the evacuation alert came, and had me repeat the route of how I got out of town several times. Drive to Penticton, don’t stop before then!
By morning, the fire on “our” side of the hill was out – temporarily, as it would turn out.
I left for the south immediately after breakfast. This time I had booked a campsite, and Osoyoos seemed far enough away from the fire.
In Summerland, I took my lunch at Okanagan Lake. The town owes its origin to the Cariboo Gold Rush, as many people headed to Barkerville passed through here.
Okanagan Falls was the next stop. Strange that in the south there was a white cloud …
And this is what it looked like in Osoyoos. This is not a sunset, but this was in the early afternoon. South of the town in the U.S., there had been a fire three weeks ago – and the smoke was still in the air, illuminated by a sun that occasionally shone through dark red.
I had been so curious about the desert at Osoyoos that I stayed and looked at it anyway. The ecosystem that begins here extends far south into the U.S., where it encompasses the entire western half of Washington State and a significant portion of northern Oregon. Officially, it is called the Antelope-Brush Ecosystem or Semi-Arid Shrub-Steppe. Rattlesnakes also live here.
After that, I had enough of burning eyes, scratchy throat, and runny nose and escaped the smoke toward Seattle. That’s what I thought. Because Seattle wasn’t smoke-free either – though compared to Osoyoos, it was already a great relief for the respiratory system.
Twelve days after the fire began, 189 homes in West Kelowna were burnt down completely. I looked at the pictures on the Internet. A strange feeling. I was there when it started. But I was able to get into Annie Way and drive away. I think I was incredibly lucky. A little scratch in my throat – that was all … and so many people lost their homes.
What is happening in Canada this year in terms of wildfires is breaking all records. Yellowknife in the Northwest Territory has been evacuated and people have had to be flown out, with the fires currently on “being held” status – they are not yet under control, but are unlikely to spread further towards the city. Also in West Kelowna, 8000 people are still not allowed to return to their homes. Wildfires are “normal” in Canada and necessary for plant and animal diversity. However, the extreme fires of the last few years are a product of – and further exacerbate – climate change.
When I went for a walk in Oregon on August 29, it started raining completely unexpectedly. While marching for an hour through the messy weather without rain protection to get back to Annie Way, I saw many people coming out of their homes, happily standing in the gardens and getting rained on. “Isn’t it wonderful!” a woman called out to me, and a man beamingly said, “Best weather we can have!” Yes, it really wasn’t bad. By the time I arrived at Annie Way, completely soaked, it stopped raining. A few minutes later, the sun was shining again.