Okanagan Mountain Fire - British Columbia, Canada

Update #3

Saturday - August 23, 2003 - 9:00 p.m. West Coast Time

Noah's Wish is still mobilized at the Parkinson Recreation Center in Kelowna. Since our arrival on Thursday we have helped a total of 492 animals at the recreation center, which includes:

Birds (232)

Cats ( 86)

Chickens ( 38)

Dogs ( 68)

Fish ( 6)

Goats ( 2)

Guinea Pigs ( 1)

Hamsters ( 2)

Horses ( 66)

Services that we have provided include coordinating foster care for displaced animals, matching lost and found animals, watching animals while their owners register with Emergency Social Services, receiving and responding to Rescue Requests, and distribution of animal food and supplies.

Last night was extremely busy. Starting at 11:00 p.m. we were hit with a rush of animals arriving with owners who had been given as little as 15 minutes warning to evacuate. Within a three hour period of time we received and placed in foster homes 137 animals. The Noah's Wish team, made up of 4 coordinators and 15 volunteers, did an amazing job of professionally and compassionately dealing with frightened evacuees and their animals.

Several boarding kennels and riding stables had to be evacuated last night. These were locations where evacuated animals had been housed. The BCSPCA in Kelowna had to be evacuated last night too when an alert was issued for the area where they are located. We sent several Noah's Wish volunteers to assist with the evacuations.

The Okanagan Mountain fire was a category 6 last night which is the most dangerous rating. Firefighters reported flames as high as 400 feet. The sustained winds were blowing at 40 mph and moving at approximately 350 feet per minute, causing the fire to grow to 42,000 acres. Tonight the fire covers 48,000 acres tonight. As of last night as many as 26,000 people had been evacuated, leaving 9,000 homes. In addition, evacuations alerts were issued for 6,000 more homes. These numbers comprise 25% of the total population of Kelowna.

We learned this morning that 203 homes were lost last night. Starting tomorrow we will be contacting those people who no longer have a home to see if they have any short or long term animal needs. Throughout the day we provided comfort to families who fear their animals did not survive. As soon as it is safe we will be going into those areas where homes burned to set humane traps for cats that are missing.

Search and rescue teams were able to go into some areas today to rescue animals. The BCSPCA was also responding to rescue requests. We are very pleased with the on-going cooperation between the two organizations. Efforts to rescue animals will continue tomorrow.

Fortunately, we have not received any reports of injured or killed animals. In the days to come we are hoping this does not change.

Just after posting this update I got some news that I wanted to share with you. A young woman came to us today in tears after learning her home had burned. She had tried to get home on Friday to evacuate her animals but her employer delayed her leaving work for an hour. When the woman reached the area where she lived the road blocks were in place and she was not granted permission to retrieve her Mastif, Lasso Apso, birds, and rabbits. We consoled the woman and encouraged her not to give up hope.

One of the search and rescue teams just reported finding both of the dogs still alive. Noah's Wish volunteer Donna Wackerbauer, who had talked with the woman earlier in the day, made the call to the young woman to give her the good news. It's moments like this that bring such joy to all of us.

Report Submitted By: Terri Crisp - Director, Noah's Wish