Like many in the community, it was a sleepless night for Williams Lake Mayor Surinderpal Rathor after a wildfire sparked almost in the centre of the city on Sunday evening.
Rathor shared that aside from a couple of short naps, he has been up all night making sure that he, the city, and his residents are safe and informed.
“The most recent update I received is that there are still a few hot spots, and a few flare-ups have come up,” he told CityNews Monday morning.
“As you know, last night the crews were working in the dark. It’s been hard to see, but they’ve been working all night.
“There are a few bombers and helicopters are bombing the area. The evacuation alert is still in place, and we are requesting the people to preserve the water,” he explained.
The wildfire, which as of Monday morning was still classified as “out of control” and about 20 hectares in size, was sparked by a tree falling on a power line, the city’s emergency operation centre confirmed late Sunday.
Within just minutes, the fire ran west up the valley hill toward businesses in the city’s industrial area. Within an hour, massive black plumes of smoke were billowing into the air as the city’s auto-wrecker and vehicles went up in flames.
Rathor says in his decades of living in the region, he’s never seen a wildfire move that fast toward the city.
“I’ve never seen one this fast and this aggressive,” he said. “It didn’t take long at all. It was minutes.”
While the winds have remained fairly calm on Monday, Rathor says crews trying to knock down the remaining hot spots as soon as possible. “With the area being so dry and so warm, we do not want to take any chances.”
Rathor explains that the westside of the valley, toward Westridge Drive, is the main area of focus Monday. “We are working on the west, concentrating on it to make sure that residents aren’t affected, if possible.”
“We are doing our best, wherever we can. The firefighters, the first responders, everybody’s there and they’re doing the best they can.”
Rathor says an update on the situation is expected at 10 a.m. You can watch CityNews 24/7 live or listen live to CityNews 1130 to keep up to date with this story. You can also subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.