Ernie Dumais comforts “Rascal” on their back porch on Fairview Road, where water hoses were set up by structural protection officials during the recent evacuations. Photo by Lyonel Doherty
Ernie Dumais has a new appreciation for firefighters . . . and strong-willed cats.
The Fairview Road resident was one of many evacuated during the Testalinden Creek wildfire.
“It’s nerve-racking,” said Dumais, who didn’t sleep too well the first night.
He explained that he had three evacuation practice sessions prior to the last order. He referred to the Willowbrook Road fire, the Wilson Mountain fire and Testalinden Creek fire alerts.
“I started packing up business papers and treasures . . . but we felt we needed a better plan in place.”
Dumais noted that friends offered them lots of help and places to stay, but they had planned a trip to Vancouver, otherwise they probably would have stayed behind.
He noted the firefighters in the structural protection program did a “fantastic” job utilizing sprinklers and hoses to protect their home.
“I think our property was well protected while we were evacuated.”
His property was a network of water hoses, sprinklers and one-inch econo-lines that snaked around the home. The source of water was the Dumais swimming pool, where a portable pump sat waiting to siphon water if necessary.
A ladder leaned against the house to access the sprinklers on the roof.
Before he was officially informed of the evacuation order, a television crew showed up and reported that residents would have to leave. The crew then left and drove up Fairview Road, returning 15 minutes later to find Dumais packing up.
“They drove into the driveway again, but I was scrambling to do something with the cat.”
Rascal wasn’t willing to go, Dumais said, noting the cat escaped twice, once from a plastic milk crate, and again from a cardboard box. Dumais cut some air holes in it but Rascal pushed his way through one of them.
“If he escaped downtown, we would (likely) never see him again.”
So Dumais chose to leave Rascal at home, confident he would look after himself.
In looking back at the ordeal, Dumais was happy with the work done to protect homes in the Fairview area. But he questioned the wisdom of the regional district publicizing all the addresses of the evacuees on the day of the order.
Dumais feared that would-be thieves would capitalize on this, knowing which empty homes to plunder.
But evacuation information officer Cameron Baughen said the reasoning behind providing the addresses is to inform homeowners where the order is in effect.
“No personal information is attached and generally civic information is public record,” Baughen said. “Hiding public information may not help the security situation and may confuse residents and homeowners concerned for their lives and property.”
In terms of security, the regional district works with the RCMP during any evacuation, he pointed out.
“Where feasible we also provide security checkpoints on roads, as we did with Fairview Road, to monitor access.”
Baughen said if anyone has concerns with the evacuation process, he or she can contact the regional district at [email protected] or by calling 250-492-0237.
By Lyonel Doherty
