BARRIERE, B.C. – As the McLure fire closed in on Tom Kempter’s ranch near Barriere, one of his last tasks was to set a water sprinkler on the roof of his house.
While he was on the roof a fierce wind came in from the west and blew off the barn roof. It made a whooping sound as chunks flew by him. At the same time the ladder fell over and his wife Vreny had to rescue him.
“That’s when I decided I better get the hell out of here,” he said.
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They grabbed a few personal possessions and as they left by car they could see the fire through their back window.
“At first it was nothing,” he said. “Then it was as far as you could see, just boom, boom, boom and the trees fell right over.”
Their main route to Kamloops was Highway 5 but it was closed as fire jumped roads and creeks. They turned onto back roads and hoped for the best. They left their home at 4 p.m. and arrived in Kamloops by 9 p.m. The journey should have taken an hour.
Part of the delay was a ferry crossing over a creek that could only take two vehicles at a time. An endless trek of water tanker trucks took priority over evacuees so the wait turned into hours. The Kempters had two coolers full of picnic food meant for a family camping trip. They shared cold cuts with newfound friends waiting in line.
“We met people we had never met before,” he said. “It was actually quite a pleasant wait.”
When they returned a couple days later they were relieved to find the house still standing but fences and some outbuildings were gone.
They also discovered the sprinkler had poured water down the chimney and left puddles of water on the floors.
Further damage was realized as they started to clean up the house and yard. They lost irrigation equipment, water pumps and delivery systems throughout the property.
“It was so hot everything cooked,” Kempter said.
Their cattle were safe on range west of the fire but considerable grazing land was consumed and they later had to find feed for 300 cow-calf pairs. They managed to rent pasture from a neighbour.
Other losses included 80 acres of private timber.
Peat on their land continued burning long after the main fires were extinguished and the Kempters had to keep watering hot spots and watching for caved-in spots where tree roots burned in the intense heat.
“You had to watch because sometimes the ground was still there, but you would fall in and it was darn hot down there,” Vreny said.
Aerial grass reseeding has started and they are satisfied it will germinate and replace lost range.
They are also grateful for the help they received. The Mennonite disaster relief group, the Salvation Army and community and government groups helped with food, clothing and labour to replace burned fences and buildings.
“It’s nice to live in a country where people still care,” Tom said.
