Fundraiser launched for Okanagan wildfire fighters who lost homes in blaze

As many are trying to recover from B.C.’s most devastating wildfire season in modern history, some firefighters in the Central Okanagan have a very personal recovery ahead.

Thirteen members of the Wilson’s Landing Fire Department, including the fire chief, lost their own homes to the McDougall Creek near West Kelowna.

To help support them while many file insurance claims and try to get back on their feet, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched which hopes of raising $130,000.

The funds would be split between them, organizers say.

“The brave men and women of the Wilson’s Landing Volunteer Fire Department did their best to protect the community. Unfortunately, 13 of the 24 firefighters lost their own homes while protecting those of others,” GoFundMe campaign creator Arne Perrin shared online.

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Speaking to CityNews, Wilson’s Landing Fire Chief Paul Zydowicz says the support is “amazing.”

“The whole community has really, actually supported us in various ways here in Wilson’s Landing, from Traders Cove to Shelter Cove and people in Kelowna and the agency’s — Salvation Army and Mamas for Mamas, the outreach from the community has been unbelievably rewarding to us,” he said.

Zydowicz says it’s not just monetary help he and his crew have received.

“The emotional support has been extremely supportive, for lack of a better description,” he said. “People come up to us on the road, they hug us, they tell us, ‘Thank you for saving our houses.’ And everyone asks what do we need. We’ve had donations of clothing and food and just basic, everyday stuff that some of the firefighters didn’t have due to losing their houses.”

“We left our house with the intention of going to a call, and at no point was anybody planning not to return to their house. So, it’s not like we packed for a long deployment, we just kind of took what we needed to go to the call, and that was that.”

For himself, Zydowicz explains he’s “compartmentalized” his own loss. “I’ve really set it on the back burner. I’ll deal with the house and the reconstruction when we get to that stage, right now, it’s a matter of getting everybody back into here safely.”

The area is still dangerous and not ready to be inhabited yet, he explains. The fire is still going, and many BC Hydro lines are down. Zydowicz says the road linking Wilson’s Landing to Kelowna is still damaged in sections.

“Right now, in order to get everybody back in here, including ourselves and the other firefighters, we need to try and get the infrastructure back in place and then have people move back and safely.

“So, I haven’t really had that much time to feel — I think it’ll come when it comes. I don’t know when that’s going to be but right now, we’re just staying busy trying to get the work done.”

As for the McDougall Creek Wildfire itself, Zydowicz says the BC Wildfire Service has planned ignitions going high up in the hills, continuing to try to burn off fuels so the fire cannot continue to spread.

“The work is being done to make sure the area is safe. Some of the sprinklers are being demobilized in areas where there is no opportunity for the fire to come back to, and we’re just kind of moving north in a slow progressive rate in order to get the areas all cleared.”

Zydowicz says he cannot give enough credit to the BCWS, and the “machine” that comes in to help.

“It’s a machine, it’s absolutely incredible to watch. From the people on the ground to all of the background logistics and the leadership that comes with that organization.

“I’ve worked with them in the past in smaller amounts, but I’ve been involved here every day, 12 hours a day type of situation, and they really do have it covered. It’s quite incredible how good they are at what they do.”

Zydowicz had previously characterized the wildfire as a “nightmare.”

“This fire has been and continues to be a fire chief’s nightmare. The force, speed, and intensity of the fire is unprecedented in our community. Two years ago, as we worked the White Rock Lake fire, we thought at the time that it was the biggest fire of our lives. It pales to what we just experienced,” he said last week.

-With files from Hana Mae Nassar and Cole Schisler