A helicopter dumps water on flames from a wildfire near Oliver, B.C., on SundayJONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
A silver pickup truck was all that was left when Gaetan Harton finally returned to his property in British Columbia's southern interior on Tuesday, five days after he was ordered to leave.
The house, the trailer, the tree house – they were all incinerated by an aggressive wildfire that engulfed more than two dozen houses and forced hundreds to flee.
"Everything is on the ground. Everything, everything – there is nothing left," said Mr. Harton, 63, who was permitted to return Tuesday to survey the damage to his riverfront property in Westbridge, about 90 kilometres southeast of Kelowna. "All you see is the tin [roof] and the dust looks almost like snow. It's very ugly, very very ugly."
The aggressive Rock Creek fire, which has burned up more than 3,700 hectares of land since last week, is still considered completely out of control. The fire destroyed at least 30 houses and placed many others under an evacuation order, with 137 houses still covered by the order as of Tuesday. The ordeal has taken its toll. Some residents are frustrated with what they see as a lack of information about the fate of their houses and property, and about when the roads will be open again.
Mr. Harton was able to retrieve his truck after returning with an escort, though he was still concerned after he was told he couldn't go back a second time to collect his girlfriend's Harley Davidson, which he worried would be stolen my looters.
"I got my truck but it's the bike that I want, because we're afraid of thieves," he said. "We lost enough."
Emergency safety service staff were escorting people in small numbers into the evacuated areas of Rock Creek and Westbridge, allowing them to take stock of the damage and grab a few belongings, but those trips stopped when the wind picked up in the late afternoon.
It wasn't clear what started the fire, one of the most destructive B.C. has seen in more than a decade, though fire officials say they believe it was caused by people because there was no lightening reported in the area.
A day earlier, the province's Forest Minister said officials were investigating reports that a video captured a flicked cigarette butt sparking the blaze, but Kevin Skrepnek of the province's wildfire management branch said Tuesday that officials have yet to find such footage.
"Images from the nearest cam have been reviewed and nothing was found to indicate a potential fire start at that location," Mr. Skrepnek said.
At an evacuation centre in Midway, a small community not far from the U.S. border, rumours circulated about the cause. "[Whoever started it] put a lot of people out," said Jim Fletcher, a resident of Rock Creek who was only on evacuation alert but had friends and neighbours who lost their homes. "It's sickening."
Others at the centre voiced frustration with what they felt was a lack of good communication from officials. They complained it was difficult to find out which roads were safe to drive on and even which houses were in the danger zone.
"I wish we could get some real information," Cal Thompson said. "Where are these flames, where's the fire heading to? They aren't telling you a darn thing."
"Where are the water bombers?" Mr. Fletcher added. "We need help."
Mike Morris, parliamentary secretary to the provincial Forests Minister, told reporters in Midway that the government is looking into increasing penalties in time for next year's fire season. Current fines range from as low as $173 up to $10,000. Some of those penalties could include seizing vehicles for people who light campfires in provincial parks when there's a ban, or banning smoking in vehicles along highways during high fire season. Any changes wouldn't come into effect until next year.
Mr. Morris said whoever is responsible for starting the Rock Creek blaze could be responsible for covering the cost of the fire.
"But those penalties are very minor in comparison to what we see here in Rock Creek and the lives that have been affected," he said. "For folks who've lost their homes, all their valuables, their life treasures – you just can't put a value on that."
Fire officials acknowledged investigations into human-caused wildfires, which often start in remote areas, can be challenging. When asked for an example of a fire that resulted in charges, Mr. Skrepnek of the wildfire management branch reached back more than a decade. In 2003, a fire started by a cigarette butt in Barriere, B.C., north of Kamloops, destroyed 73 houses and caused millions of dollars in damage. Michael Barre, who reported the fire and was still at the scene when fire crews arrived, was later convicted and fined, though during his trial he denied starting the blaze.
For now, Mr. Harton, the Westbridge resident who lost his home, is trying to put things into perspective. He moved to B.C. from Lac-Mégantic, Que., eight years ago and has close friends who died in the train explosion there in 2013.
"Here, at least nobody died," he said. "We lost the house and we lost lots of things, but they're still selling wood we can build [with]. I lost my clothes, but they gave me some more."