In a matter of minutes last Saturday, the Bradley Creek wildfire reduced the house Bill and Kelly Richards shared to a pile of charred metal and ash. “It’s hard to even describe it. It’s just like a big pile of burned stuff,” Bill Richards said. “When you have nothing to begin with, and then you really end up with nothing, it’s a big pill to chew.” Up to 230 families have similar stories about homes destroyed by the fire. At one property on Highway 97 north of Westside Road, all that remains where a house once stood is a stone fireplace and chimney, and an outdoor pizza oven. CCTV video from Black Walls Inc., a nearby concrete fabrication business, shows the wildfire rapidly approaching—and then crossing—the highway, before the house goes up in flames. Most of the thousands under evacuation order haven’t been able to check on their properties because areas ravaged by the fire remain unsafe. “It’s looking like World War Three,” Asst. Chief Mike Doherty of the Okanagan Indian Band Fire Department told CTV News at a roadblock outside the hard-hit First Nation’s reserve. “We’re doing the best we can to get things back to normal and get people back into their homes, but it will be a little bit yet.” The Richards say they consider themselves fortunate because they still have their beloved dogs and each other. “That’s about the only comfort we’ve got, is sticking together and staying as a family unit,” said Bill Richards. A photo from their neighbour shows their motorhome appears undamaged. They may be able to live in it for a while, but they know the road ahead will be long and uncertain. “Fortunately, we have a lease on the property, and we can go out and rebuild,” Bill Richards said. The couple say they don’t have much in the way of savings. “But the funds?” Kelly Richards asked about the possibility of rebuilding. “I don’t know where we’re going to get the funds.”
