Wildfires in Kelowna and Area

Update from my home...

**UPDATE, August 26/23: The fires are held and being knocked back as we speak. Favorable weather has helped, and the City of Kelowna is all under control, with evacuees being sent back home!

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Priorities change. A week ago I was worried about my grass staying green. Now I'm worried about my house burning down.

The map below shows where we live, right in the heart of Kelowna. The devastating fires have been concentrated on the West side called the city of West Kelowna and Westbank areas.

A scary thing happened last Thursday night when flaming embers flew across the lake with the wind and landed on the east Kelowna city side 3 kilometres away.

The red lines in the map are the areas that have been evacuated, and the orange lines indicate alerts which may be evacuated soon.

Have a look at this video from the national news agency in Canada - the CBC. Shows some pretty wild pictures and video of the fires and destruction. The smoke this Saturday morning is palpable.

Inside our home, we have an air purifier left over from Covid which seems to be doing a pretty good job of keeping our indoor air fresh-ish.

I’m not a person who gets worried about things I have no control over, but this type of black swan event (What’s with the flock of Black Swan events now-a-days?) gets a guy thinking. We should put together a “Go bag“ with things we must take with us in case we have to evacuate. Wild thing to think about.

Where would we go? There is just one highway out at this time, as the other 2 routes are blocked because of fires, and emergency right of ways necessary for the emergency crews to navigate as required.

I guess the logical route out would be to high-tail it down 90 kilometres/56 miles to the US border and head east from Washington state to Montana or North Dakota to my wife’s brother’s places in Moosomin Saskatchewan, and Brandon Manitoba.

Hope it doesn’t come to that. It would mean that possibly we would lose our home. But as long as we are together, me, my wife and my daughter - we have the most important things.

Sorry about the tone of this post. It’s a downer for the readers I’m sure. Let’s hope the next post will be writing about getting through to the other side of this adventure.

GoBag

The BC government website put together the following in case of emergencies. Like now:

Make a grab-and-go bag

A grab-and-go bag is a small emergency kit that's easy to take with you, in case you need to leave right away. It's a good idea to make grab-and-go bags for your home, workplace and vehicle.

Include:

• Food (ready to eat) and water

• Phone charger and battery bank

• Small battery-powered or hand-crank radio

• Battery-powered or hand-crank flashlight

• Extra batteries

• Small first-aid kit and personal medications

• Personal toiletries and items, such as an extra pair of glasses or contact lenses

• Copy of your emergency plan

• Copies of important documents, such as insurance papers and identification

• Cash in small bills

• Local map with your family meeting place identified

• Seasonal clothing and an emergency blanket

• Pen and notepad

• Whistle

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Have plenty of water

Most people need four litres of water per person per day, but some people may need more. For example, children, people who are nursing or people who are sick. Hot temperatures can double water needs.

Pets need about 30 mL of water per kg of body weight per day. For example, a cat or small dog needs at least half a cup of water each day.

Water must be safe to drink

Purchase bottled water for an emergency kit. Keep it in its original container in cool and dark place that's easy to reach.

You should not:

• Open the water until you need it

• Use water that's past the expiry or "best before" date printed on the bottle

• Use water from toilet tanks or bowls, radiators, waterbeds, swimming pools or spas

If your regular water supply becomes contaminated, you can purify and bottle your own water. If you use a water filtration device, it's still a good idea to store some bottled water as well.

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Thank you for all the well wishes! Stay safe, and talk soon,

Paul