The City of West Kelowna is singing its praises to Courtenay Fire Department for their aid in this year’s unprecedented wildfire season.
West Kelowna mayor Gord Milsom wrote a letter to the city and fire department, thanking them for their efforts with the McDougall Creek Wildfire.
According to fire chief Kurt MacDonald, their crews were sent to the area of the Okanagan and went into neighbourhoods that were in the path of the fire to perform FireSmart duties. This included moving combustibles away from the homes and doing assessments to see which homes had chances of surviving.
“They were staying in a fire camp, sleeping in tents on cots, working long hours, taking care of spot fires,” said MacDonald. “They also assisted with backburning operations as BC Wildfire Service was trying to get rid of some unburnt fuel.
“We also had one of our deputy chiefs, deputy chief Stigler, he actually went and worked in the incident command post in the West Kelowna area.”
Milsom says this was “by far the most unprecedented and devastating wildfire in the history of West Kelowna.”
“This traumatic time for so many who lost their homes includes firefighters who also lost their homes,” wrote Milsom. “We are devastated for their loss and in awe of their resilience during such a stressful time.”
Milsom adds their fire department will be there for the Comox Valley if a wildfire crisis were to happen in the community.
“There is no doubt that these are unprecedented times, and we are stronger together,” he added.
Courtenay mayor Bob Wells expressed deep gratitude for the efforts of the fire department as well.
