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Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Youth centre reopens bigger and better See Page 4
Vol. 8 • Issue 2
A celebration of youth soccer See Second Section WILL JOHNSON Nelson Star North Shore resident Bob Tremblay sat in his backyard along Highway 3A, surrounded on all sides by sprinklers, watching as a raging forest fire slowly made its way down the slope towards his home late Saturday evening. The conflagration, visible from the big orange bridge in Nelson, prompted an evacuation alert affecting about 350 residents between Sitkum Creek south and Willow Point (Six Mile Lakes Rd.) The cause is still under investigation. According to the Regional District of Central Kootenay, there is no immediate threat to structures. “Right now we’re looking northwest up into the Aerie Creek drainage and it’s one tremendous fire burning here,” said Tremblay, whose wife Joyce also watched with concern. “We’re getting the Okanagan’s 2003 series here,” said Tremblay. “It is cooling off a bit, and they’ll be out there at first light but there it is, coming down the hill.” From where the Star joined him, the fire painted the sky in deep oranges and blood-reds.
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Air tankers, helicopters, 60 firefighters respond to 380-hectare wildfire burning near Six Mile
Community alarm
Fire on the mountain
Courtney Thompson caught this startling image of the wildfire raging near Six Mile late Saturday evening. It grew to 380 hectares and resulted in an evacuation alert for some residents. The orange bridge is seen lit up at bottom. Courtney Thompson photo
ROAD READY
Residents gathered along the road taking pictures and some even camped out to observe the fire’s progress when the Star attended the scene again at 2 and 9 a.m on Sunday. Trisha Meeker brought her family along to take pictures in the middle of the night. She said the flames occasionally died down but then would flare back up unexpectedly. “I saw it start, about 1 or 2 p.m., I just saw a poof on top of the mountain and got out and watched it for 10 minutes. Then
I saw a plane fly up there, so I knew I didn’t have to call it in, but then smoke started billowing up but then [the flames] really started coming down. I’ve lived here a long time and I’ve never seen anything like this.” Meeker’s grandson, six-yearold Oz, seconded his grandmother’s sentiment. He was excited at being able to stay up long past his bedtime and said he was worried about residents in the firesilhouetted houses nearby. His grandmother reminded him the fire crews were on the job.
Online reactions
Photographer Courtney Thompson shared a photo with the Star that she took Saturday evening (pictured at left) in which the blues and purples of the surrounding area contrasted against the smoky ridgeline above Tremblay’s home and Kootenay Lake. “Keep safe out there everyone, things just got real,” she wrote as a caption. Others posted photos and videos, some juxtaposed against the matching orange of the bridge. Thompson said the experience escalated over the course of the day. “I started watching this fire this afternoon from out on the water. Things looked like they had died down a bit earlier in the evening. Around 8:30 p.m. you could tell the fire was starting to gain strength and move down the hill a bit faster. I hopped in the truck up Giveout Creek to see if I could get a better vantage point by late this evening to try and grab some shots.” Others offered their homes to any displaced residents. Local minister John Thwaites had a simple message: Please pray.”
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