B.C. Premier David Eby says visit to Interior ravaged by wildfires was ‘moving’

B.C. Premier David Eby travelled to the Interior on Wednesday to visit the areas that have been ravaged by wildfires.

“It has been very moving to visit Penticton for myself, meeting all of the incredible volunteers, all of the remarkable wildfire fighters, and the local leaders who have responded in this time of crisis for the community,” Eby said at a press conference in Penticton on Wednesday afternoon.

He said he was at the reception centre when a woman named Diane was reunited with her cat after she had been forced to flee her home.

“I want to acknowledge the passing of a woman from Meadow Valley during the evacuation and send my condolences to her family and friends for that tragic loss, as well as for all of the people who have lost so much in this horrific fire,” Eby added.

Thousands of people remain out of their homes due to the Bald Range wildfire that sparked on Friday evening.

Homes have been lost to the fire and it is unclear when the residents will be allowed home.

“The stories that I heard were very consistent, and they were around the speed of this horrific fire, from the wildfire service perspective, that it overran their modeling, and how quickly they had to pivot from what they call initial attack, where they show up to respond to a fire that’s been reported to just providing notice, getting people out as quickly as possible, knocking on doors, dropping the buckets and just using the helicopters to get people lifted out of the area,” Eby said.

“From the local leadership perspective, anticipating an event that would require an evacuation alert and then an actual evacuation was not a luxury that they had; this happened immediately.”

Eby added that the province recognizes that initially the influx of people to the reception centres was overwhelming and the services were not prepared to handle that many people, but he said there were lessons learned.

Summerland’s Mayor Doug Holmes said the community will need the provincial government’s support as they move into the recovery phase and people can return home.

“It’s going to be a long, difficult recovery and we’ll need the government to be there, supporting us the same way they’re supporting us now in the response phase,” he said.

“And that was kind of, I think, the main thing that we talked about and I have every confidence that the government won’t forget about us.”