Frustration grows for Shuswap residents needing access to evacuation zones

KAMLOOPS– Claudia Ippolito has been separated from her husband and home since Friday. Despite RCMP blocking her access, she says she will find a way back to her Anglemont home.

“I am considering finding a boat,” Ippolito said.

“I don’t care if I get arrested, I’m going.”

The Bush Creek East wildfire is still out of control, burning in the Shuswap, currently estimated at 41,806 hectares in size.

To prevent people from crossing the fireline and disobeying evacuation orders, RCMP has closed off highway access to many communities.

Ippolito was driving back home from her job in Kamloops when she was stopped by highway patrols.

Within the Columbia Shuswap Regional District, 4,600 properties are on evacuation order.

However, the community of Anglemont isn’t on the list, as of Wednesday afternoon, they are not even on evacuation alert.

The only way in or out of Anglemont is through an evacuation zone, meaning if they were to leave the community, they wouldn’t be allowed back home.

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Ippolito told CFJC News.

“But the people in Anglemont are very important and I don’t understand why you are leaving them with nothing.”

According to Ippolito, residents from Anglemont are now without electricity and supplies are running low, which has forced some residents to take matters into their own hands.

“I’m going to find a way,” she said.

“Probably this weekend. So if you’re waiting for me, I’m feisty.”

East of Anglemont, thousands of properties are on evacuation order as firefighters work to contain the Bush Creek East Wildfire.

The order was issued Friday and residents were urged to leave as erratic winds spread the fire.

While many residents fled to safety, several stayed behind to protect their property despite possibly facing fines of up to $1150.

“The rules are there that you have to evacuate,– rurally, it’s a little different situation than in an urban area,” Jake Ootes, a Celista resident who has been evacuated to Kelowna said.

“They are protecting their own homes. And in many cases, they’ve saved their own homes and those of their neighbours.”

Five days after the order was issued, those behind the fire line are running low on supplies.

“What we need to see is a way to move forward from this, to get those people the provisions they need, to help BC Wildfire Service,” Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar explained.

“Coordinate with BC Wildfire Service so that people are operating in the safest way as possible while still making sure that structure protection and things of that nature are being done.”

During a news conference Wednesday, Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said the Government is actively working to get supplies through. However, she repeated the message that those under an evacuation order must leave.

“It is difficult to leave behind your home and everything that you love, but evacuation orders must be followed,” Ma said.

“They are not suggestions. They are the law.”

SC