What’s life like under wildfire alert? For Kimberley, B.C., residents, it’s part prep, part wait and see

An old evacuation checklist is still pinned to Jerry Shepit’s refrigerator in Kimberley, B.C.

One line tells him to bring a radio and “lots of coins for the payphone.”

“No payphones now,” the 86-year-old said, amused by how much emergency advice has changed.

Shepit moved to Kimberley in 1975, when it was still a mining town. He worked at the Sullivan Mine until it closed in 2001 and stayed in the community.

Over 51 years, he has renovated his house and filled it with memories.

“Even though it’s an old house, it’s quite a treasure to me,” he said.

On July 19, the entire city of Kimberley was placed under evacuation alert because of the out-of-control Matthew Creek wildfire burning about 10 kilometres west of the city.

The alert has left more than 9,000 people in the East Kootenay community suspended between ordinary life and the possibility of an emergency.

Residents must be ready to go on short notice.

Shepit describes himself as old-fashioned when it comes to technology. He doesn’t go online and rarely uses the smartphone his family gave him, so he only learned about the evacuation alert when a family member called his landline.

“That was quite a surprise, actually, because I didn’t see any smoke in town or anything like that,” he said.

If he has to leave, medication will be the first thing he packs. He is less certain about where he would go.

Looking around his home, Shepit glanced at a handmade Christmas gift from his grandson. 

That, he said, would have to come with him too.

“Your home is your castle,” he said. “I hope it’s still standing when it’s all over.”

In downtown Kimberley, Angela Symes is keeping Black Dog Cycle & Ski open while preparing for the possibility of leaving.

She owns the business with her husband and a business partner, and said the alert has already led to cancellations.

“We live surrounded by a beautiful mountain range, and with that comes this type of threat,” she said.

If the alert becomes an order, Symes said the store and everything inside it would be left as it is.

“I believe things are things. As long as everybody I love is safe, that’s all I’m concerned about.”

For Doug and Dawn Bryant, leaving Kimberley was already part of the plan.

The couple had been preparing to drive their RV to Alberta to visit family when the alert was issued.

It didn’t change their destination, but it changed what they packed.

They added wills, financial documents, heritage jewellery and other irreplaceable belongings to what Doug described as “virtually a house on wheels.”

“We don’t consider ourselves being evacuees at this point in time,” Doug said. “It’s only an alert. There’s no order yet.”

Still, leaving carried a new uncertainty.

“It definitely is in the back of our mind that we may not be able to get back,” Doug said.

As of Friday afternoon, the citywide alert linked to the Matthew Creek wildfire remained in effect, along with a separate alert covering 66 properties along St. Mary Lake Road.

The wildfire had grown from an estimated 567 hectares on July 19 to 869 hectares by Friday. 

Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick said wind and weather conditions would help determine how long the alert remains in place.

“You can never predict how long this is going to last,” he said. “I suspect this will be measured in probably weeks, not days.”

For now, life in Kimberley continues, but leaving has become part of the calculation of an ordinary day.