Kelowna, B.C. — Arturo Peralta joined the Wilson’s Landing Fire Department as a volunteer a year ago. Last week, his job to save others turned into him saving his own livelihood.
“I said, 'Just pack up, but don’t too pack much, you’re going to be coming back in maybe one or two days,'” Peralta recalled telling his wife as she evacuated last Thursday from their home at Okanagan Lake Resort.
But he and his wife will never walk through the doors of their home again.
On Thursday, the McDougall Creek wildfire spread massively, destroying nearly 200 structures.
“We were overrun by the fire. The fire actually went over our truck and started lighting up structures, so it was just a run, a run against the wind,” Peralta said.
Experts said wind speeds reached up to 50 kilometers per hour on the night of Aug. 17, when the McDougall Creek wildfire began spreading extensively.
“We saved as much as we could, but there were already so many structures on fire,” Peralta said.
Twelve of his colleagues were among the first to lose their homes.
“Some of my brothers at the department, we saw some of their houses go up in flames in the first hour and we had to keep going,” he said.
As they moved towards Traders Cove, Peralta knew he had also lost his home.
“When it started burning plastics and fabrics and cars and paint, then you see how the sky starts turning grey and black, so we were a kilometre away and could tell when the fire really hit the resort,” he said.
Still, he continued working on the front line, spending more than 30 hours battling the massive blaze engulfing parts of West Kelowna.
Images and videos of Okanagan Lake Resort being destroyed by flames were shown across social media. Evacuation orders still prevent residents from accessing the area to see the totality of the damage in person.
Peralta's neighbour and life-long friend Alejandra Ceballos and her husband Ivan Ortiz also learned they lost their home.
“I was still thinking, maybe it's just smoke, maybe our houses were spared, but we know now our houses are gone,” said Ceballos.
The couple moved to Kelowna from Ontario in the fall.
She was out of town when her husband was evacuated, never realizing she would come back to Kelowna without a home.
“My husband looked at me because I said, ‘We lost paradise,’ and he looked at me and said, ‘You are paradise, and we are together,” she said.
Both families are now living in hotels in Kelowna, with their spots secured until Aug. 30.
With current evacuation orders in place, they are unable to return to see the full extent of the damage, something they would like to do to receive closure.
“I don't want anyone but me to go through my stuff," Ceballos said. "Maybe there is nothing. If it’s ashes, I don’t care, I want to be the one touching those ashes."
The future for Ceballos and Ortiz is unknown, but the hardest part right now, they say, is finding a rental unit that is pet-friendly.
“There is so many people with a big heart and they will do anything to try to help and when you have that comfort knowing you’re not alone, we’re going to get through this, it helps a humongous amount,” she said.
Both families say they would like to rebuild in the area, sharing a deep appreciation for the nature in their backyards.
Peralta says he hopes others will join him in someday rebuilding, a desperate necessity for helping to keep the Wilson’s Landing Fire Department in the community.
“You've got to live within 10 minutes of your hall," he said. "So, we lost our homes. If we find homes, they’re going be in Kelowna or West Kelowna, so we’re going to be out of the 10-minute drive."
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the 13 Wilson’s Landing firefighters that lost their homes in the destructive blaze:
In the meantime, Peralta says the community support has been overwhelming and motivating. He says he'll continue to work his 12 hour shifts every second day until the blaze is put out.
“The response has been incredible," he said. "Oh my God, I’ve been humbled I don’t know how many times.”
