Despite losing his home and fire hall to the Bush Creek East wildfire, Darren Reynolds and fellow North Shuswap firefighters continue doing the work that needs to be done to protect their communities.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) recently shared Reynolds乌鸦传媒� harrowing account of late Friday afternoon, Aug. 18, when strong winds pushed the out-of-control wildfire into North Shuswap communities including Scotch Creek. A member of the CSRD乌鸦传媒檚 Scotch Creek/Lee Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Reynolds explained in a video shared by the CSRD that he and fellow firefighters were at the wooden Scotch Creek bridge, helping to remove danger trees. With the 乌鸦传媒渇ire all around us,乌鸦传媒� they fell back to the fire hall. That was just before 乌鸦传媒渁ll hell broke loose.乌鸦传媒�

At the fire hall, Reynolds said the plan was to regroup, get hoses back together and then get to work on spot fires. This was with the knowledge his home had already been lost to the blaze 乌鸦传媒� something he learned from his son Nathan and Nathan乌鸦传媒檚 partner Savannah, who are also Scotch Creek/Leek Creek firefighters.

乌鸦传媒淚 knew we had lost our property because he was just down that street. He watched it happen.乌鸦传媒�

The wind died down, offering a 30-second lull before it picked up again, 乌鸦传媒渁nd chunks of stuff were flying out of the sky on fire, and the trees were just sideways, the embers were incredible 乌鸦传媒� we couldn乌鸦传媒檛 breathe or nothing (sic), trees were candling right beside us, our hall was on fire, we watched the trailer court just get ripped apart, just explode,乌鸦传媒� said Reynolds.

It was then they headed to the beach, 乌鸦传媒渂ecause we thought we were going to die, simple as that.乌鸦传媒�

Once on the beach, they were transported by lake to safety. Three days later, Reynolds returned to his fire-ravaged North Shuswap community and has been there since, even though his home was flattened in the blaze.

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乌鸦传媒淚f you乌鸦传媒檝e seen my property, it was moving so fast, it just turned everything to dust basically,乌鸦传媒� said Reynolds. 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e never seen anything like that but now I can honestly say I have and I don乌鸦传媒檛 think I want to again.乌鸦传媒�

In a CSRD media release accompanying the video, Reynolds points out like himself, other North Shuswap firefighters have lost their homes and are 乌鸦传媒渟till going hard.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淭his is my neighbourhood. I don乌鸦传媒檛 have another neighbourhood. And nobody should have to go through this. It乌鸦传媒檚 pretty ugly乌鸦传媒�,乌鸦传媒� said Reynolds, noting the selfless actions of firefighters helped people to escape the blaze.

乌鸦传媒淧eople don乌鸦传媒檛 understand that. They think they should all come first. Sorry, it doesn乌鸦传媒檛 work that way乌鸦传媒�,乌鸦传媒� said Reynolds. 乌鸦传媒淚f I didn乌鸦传媒檛 think the way I do, I would have said 乌鸦传媒榯o hell with the bridge乌鸦传媒� and I would have went (sic) and protected my house. Instead, I don乌鸦传媒檛 know how many thousands of people we got out of here.乌鸦传媒�

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