It began like a nightmare come to life for Tricia White.
White, who lives with husband Justin near the very top of the ruggedly beautiful Heritage Hills development that was the early focal point of the still ongoing Christie Mountain Wildfire, was working at the Penticton airport last Tuesday afternoon when she first spotted smoke.
"I'm a customer service agent with Westjet," she said this morning, now back home on Christie Mountain Lane. "And I saw some smoke in the hills that was in the general direction of my house. I wasn't sure what it was. Then I got a text from one of our friends from Oliver, saying there's a brand new report of a fire in our neighbourhood."
At 2:30 p.m., White called her husband, who was working from home at the time.
"And he walks out and can see the smoke over the ridge, behind the house," she continued. "It's close and he's ex-Search and Rescue, so he was on it quickly."
"We normally have a pile of everything so we can grab and run. But this year, we didn't do that. Maybe because the spring was long, maybe because of COVID. So he's running around trying to grab clothes and the pets and valuables. It's a really tough question what to grab while in that moment."
As Justin prepped for leaving, Tricia texted neighbours in the close-knit community, seeing if they were aware and advising them to get out.
"One of our neighbours goes camping for extended periods in the summer. And I'm like, 'Do you know what's happening? Are you here?' Thankfully, everyone was here, and everyone was taking action."
Still, from her position at the airport, White saw how fast the fire was advancing. "Within an hour, it had already moved to the next hill. Then it was to the third hill. And I was thinking, oh my god, it’s moving so quickly."
The WestJet flight was late that day, due to another fire "north of Penticton," and White finally left work at 4:40. By 5 p.m., the evacuation notice had been issued and her hubby had already moved their pets and essentials to his mom's house in Penticton.
But the fear continued, only to be heightened when the Whites drove to Skaha Lake Beach later to watch the fire. "It was devastating to sit and watch the flames. And then Wednesday we learned that one house had been destroyed. At first we didn't know which house or if one house meant all our houses."
Thankfully, it didn't. Today in Heritage Hills, there is some sense of normalcy. The evacuation orders were lifted Tuesday, and most everyone has returned.
But the smell of smoke still hangs in the air. Helicopters still fly above, fighting what's left of the fire. And near the very top of Christie Mountain Lane, just a couple hundred meters from the White's home, the evidence is much more graphic.
Here, Dan MacPherson stands in the midst of what, nine days ago, was the scene of perhaps the fiercest battle of all.
On the road, pine cones and assorted debris washed downhill by what must have been a deluge of water. Just three doors away, the remnants of that single home completely destroyed by the blaze. And directly across the street, maybe 50 meters from his front door, charred undergrowth and burned out trees.
It was that close.
"I was at home (on the 18th)," said MacPherson today, "and I heard this truck struggling up the hill, heading to the top. It was the Okanagan Falls fire truck. He never comes up here. I was expecting him to turn around and head back, but he never did. That was maybe 2 o'clock."
"A few minutes later, pickups and more pickups kept coming up here, so I figured there's something going on. And that's when I opened the door and went outside, and you could see the smoke just up the hill."
MacPherson took a few photos and then let his neighbours know.
"It wasn’t long after that that the wildfire service started knocking on doors. I went back inside and started packing. They were back down in a half hour saying you have to go now."
"By then the smoke had expanded substantially. And I left to stay with my brother in Oliver. l let my kids know so they weren't freaking out."
After a restless night, MacPherson drove to the Kaleden beach the next morning, where, through a long telephoto camera lens, he could scan the neighbourhood.
"Tuesday night was the worst here. That's when the fire came down. But I was so relieved that I could see the house the next morning. You don't have time. I was worried about all the sentimental things in the house. But these things move quickly. You have to be prepared."
Tricia White added that the outcome could have been far worse without the quick action of firefighters.
"That whole part was on fire," said White, gesturing up the hill. "But the firefighters were amazing. The quick response. The professionalism. Just how quickly they moved in and had a plan. They were already going door to door within hours of the fire starting."
"Look at the terrain. How did they maintain that energy and the effort in that kind of heat with that stress level. There are rattlesnakes here, and bears, and the topography is crazy. There's a lot to be afraid of."
And she does recognize that the fire continues, albeit in a far more controlled state and much farther away. Nevertheless, she said, "Personally, we're still keeping ourselves on alert."
