Well, it’s been 366 days since we were attacked by the Bush Creek East wildfire, how are we doing so far? What’s the State of the North Shuswap at this time?

Here’s what I know regarding building permits from fire damaged properties to date:

• 176 structures totally burned, 50 partially burned
• 42 demolition permit applications, all issued
• 38 building permit applications, 21 home and 5 business building permits have been issued

Challenges in rebuilding – There are, of course, many challenges in rebuilding homes and businesses. Most have to do with rules that have changed over time, and reports that are required, since the home was originally built. Especially concerning are those buildings that are near a watercourse, either the lake or a creek or even small stream. The Riparian Areas Protection Regulation has been put in place to protect fish habitat, and that’s all well and good. But building back on the same footprint would not damage fish habitat further, and yet, there is no option within those regulations for something as simple at that. Discussions with the Province since October 2023 have not yielded any relief so far but are ongoing.

Uninsured stories – The number is not really known but less than 50 people registered with the North Shuswap Disaster Relief Society requesting some kind of help in the aftermath of the fire. Some just needed a bit of help, but some were basically wiped out. The directors of NSDRS spent significant time with these people trying to determine what would provide them with the fastest recovery and the best solutions to getting through the 2023/24 winter. Many were helped and no-one was left out in the cold, some fared better than others. At this point it’s difficult to say how things will shake out, I know that some have left the North Shuswap permanently, unfortunately. I’m also aware that even some with insurance will be departing our community. This is a loss for us, but others will come and join our ranks, and we’ll make new friends along the way.

Community Infrastructure – The one piece of community infrastructure that was lost is the Scotch Creek Firehall. I know many people are wondering when it will be rebuilt and I can’t tell you that at this time, there are several things that are being juggled. What I can tell you is that the fire trucks and equipment is in Scotch Creek, and the Volunteer Firefighters are all working as usual to protect our homes and businesses. I have been hoping for clarity on a new building for a few months now but we’re still working through options. One item of note is that I’ve been chatting with BC Emergency Health Services about their potential need for an ambulance bay in any new building. They’re waiting for more data about the number of call-outs and as summer is pretty much over they should have all the data they need to consider.

Future issues – Landslides & Debris flows are the big items of concern. Any heavy rain has the potential to bring down trees, mud, debris of all kinds. I am intimately familiar with Lee Creek, and we had some kind of a debris flow around August 8^th or so. It wasn’t significant enough to damage buildings, but a few water systems were negatively impacted with sand and organics. I have heard of other small flows in other creeks but so far we’ve been lucky (I’m knocking on wood). The challenging part of this is that we have another year or two where we are in some danger from this problem. Until the undergrowth comes back strong and gets its roots back deep into the soil, the potential of a damaging flow will be with us. I pray for rain, not too hard, overnight.

Business recovery – Tourism statistics and stories from July suggested that businesses were running at just about normal in terms of numbers of people and bookings, but there was concern about the August numbers that weren’t looking great. Since that time, I’ve heard that August was coming back and I think that’s because we didn’t have fires of note in our area, and the air was pretty darn clear, comparatively. Other businesses that were affected by-and-large managed to get back to work fairly quickly. The main challenges were finding alternate space and keeping staff until things picked up again. Certainly, there was a couple of months of limited cash flow, but I think that most are back up and running pretty smoothly.

Community Recovery – This spring a group of locals got together and began training local volunteer fire brigades. A number of classes for the S-100 and C-100 fire fighting training went on in the area and people are now more aware of the dangers of firefighting, but also safe practices and how to actually fight a fire. It was an eye opener for me, and I’m sure for many others who were involved. Anglemont, Celista and Scotch Creek/Lee Creek have groups ready to go when the next fire starts. Let’s hope it never happens.

Since September ‘23 we’ve had Samaritans Purse and Mennonite Disaster Services in our community, and I am amazed at the contribution they’ve made to our recovery. Samaritans Purse was here initially to sift through ashes of burned-out homes and help recover keepsakes from the destruction. MDS began conversations with us in November as they will come into a community and build houses for the most unfortunate. They have 4 homes on the go right now (one has just been finished), and plans for another 5 I believe next year, should the stars align and the permits be issued. Samaritans Purse has now a full time representative in the area, and the United Way also has hired a local full time representative. They are here to help navigate bureaucracy and help fill forms or other challenging situations. United Way also has some funds that can be spent in the community. There’s an open house at Raven’s next Saturday Aug 24, 9am-1pm, for anyone to come and see what they’re up to.

Over the last week or so I’ve read through some of the data collected, posts I’ve written and photos from that crazy 3 week period we lived through. So many memories, so many heroes, so much loss. Even now it’s staggering to think about. Our community came through, scarred and wounded, but stronger for it.  

The future is what we make it. We have, to some extent, had a reset on how things were taking shape, an opportunity to re-think how we progress into the future. The basic rules haven’t changed, planning/developing – police presence etc. But we can go forward with a new attitude knowing that we can change the path. Together we changed the path of the fire and saved many homes and buildings. Together we can change our path to the future. Stay tuned for Open Houses this fall, we’ll get together and chat about where we go.