British Columbia is on fire...

[Cinder & Smoke]

We live in Glenrosa in West Kelowna (so does Jynnelle, Tikeyas_mom

I imagine it will be some time before the Terrace Mountain fire is under control.

Here's some links to BC Fire sites >>>

http://bcwildfire.ca/hprScripts/Wild...ws/OneFire.asp

http://webmaps.gov.bc.ca/imf5/imf.jsp?site=pub_fireinfo
Click on the + symbol at the top of the map;
then click again near the southern BC border - the map will enlarge to
great detail.

[slick]

This picture was taken by a friend and coworker who works out of our branch office in Kelowna. The sun was going down.....

To give you an idea of proximity, Kelowna is about a 4.5 to 5 hour drive from me.

Kudos to an organization called Noah's Wish www.noahswish.org/. NW is comprised of volunteers who attend disasters and rescue animals in distress. NW volunteers are all over BC right now.

[Catty1]

Most recent update from Noah's Wish:

Wednesday August 5, 2009 2:00pm

The latest information available from the BC Forestry is that the burn off was successful yesterday. There is almost no fuel left between the hillside and the town, good news. However, the fire is still shown as 0 percent contained and all evacuation orders are still in affect.



Pam Legault, Princeton BC just returned home from a number of days at the shelter in Ashton and here is what she has to say about her experience:

I just got home last night (have to work to pay for volunteering). We had 43 dogs (8 of whom are 4 week old absolutely adorable Pit/Husky/Shepherd pups with the most wonderful "Poster Child" Pit mom), 83 cats and assorted birds, bunnies. All that we had were brought in by their owners or neighbors caring for them while folks were on vacation.

The people in Ashcroft where we evacuated to were/are more than wonderful!! We arrived at 1:30 a.m. with 3 haulers full of animals and 9 of us in cars, all filled to the brim and carrying nursing Mamas. I never heard a peep from either my Pit mama or the cat and her kittens. Around 8:30 a.m., the neighbors came to see what all the noise had been about and immediately started calling in volunteers to get the arena cooled down as much as possible, and to get anything we wanted; raided their thrift shop for more food/water dishes, blankets, sheets, towels, got us ice and coffee/tea/juice, muffins. When they heard we had all been up more than 24 hrs, they offered cool beds and showers, sandwiches and salads, as well as responsible dog walkers.

The dogs loved being able to be out for more than a few minutes for walks! Someone even brought a 9x9x9 pen to set up inside the arena so dogs could stretch a bit and have a wading pool! A "nearby" Kennel Club donated several ex-pens/ crates/blankets/quilts/dog bowls and water pails and we were able to put several cats and their kittens in the ex-pens (covered obviously) so Mamas could get away from their babies somewhat and the kittens could blow off some steam.

A link to the page that details their actions - these people are amazing, as are the communities!
http://www.noahswish.info/CurrentWatchesDeployments/

[Nomilynn]

Thank you for posting the Noah's Wish site. They were featured on the news last night. Apparently a 2 week old kitten was found - they are caring for it until one of the fire fighters is able to take it home

[phesina]

Prayers for all the living beings affected by these awful fires. I also lit a small candle (http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/...ng&cid=8926115) in hope this will soon be the only flame left.