Kelowna’s Resilience Shines Through: Revisiting the Firestorm of 2003 – Kelowna News – Update

It has been two decades since the Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire. In this week-long series, Castanet is commemorating what the provincial government calls the “most significant interface wildfire event in B.C. history.” Archive photos and interviews will be combined with new reporting to chronicle the historic event. Part one is here.

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Ask those who lived through the horror of the 2003 Okanagan Mountain Park fire and ask them what they remembered — most will say the people.

Kelowna was a community of one during what was, for many, the worst time of their lives.

The fire destroyed 239 homes and damaged many others, neighbourhoods were ripped apart, most of the iconic Myra Canyon Trestles were either damaged or lost.

More than 30,000 people were evacuated, a large majority of those on the day of firestorm, Friday Aug. 22. Several thousand were evacuated a second time. Some were asked to leave their homes a third time.

When all was said and done, 60 fire departments sent trucks and personnel to help fight the fire along with 1,000 BC Wildfire Service firefighters and about 1,400 members of the Canadian military.

Air support in the form of private and Alberta government Canadair CL-215s were deployed as well as four private Lockheed L188 Electra air tankers plus the Martin Mars and other provincial tankers and helicopters.

And, while it seemed the world had come to help, it was the people of Kelowna who came together.

It was said over the course of the worst part of the fire if you weren’t evacuated you were probably housing someone who was, or helping to find places for people to shelter down.

“We saw the community come together,” remembered then fire chief Gerry Zimmermann.

“There was no anger, there was no finger pointing. Everybody was working together as one cohesive unit to make a bad situation good.

“It’s too bad it takes a disaster to make than happen.”

Zimmermann says the entire city should be proud of the way it pulled together.

“It’s not about the fire chief or the guy in the bomber that crashed and survived. Even though residents today don’t realize, they were a part of it,” remembered then mayor Walter Gray.

“Either they were a part of it by staying away, they were a part of it by volunteering, they were a part of it by keeping their store open. Everybody played a role and everybody was different for three weeks.”

Local firefighters who lost their homes continued to do their part while residents who lost their homes were making sandwiches for firefighters.

Businesses contributed water and food to those on the front lines, Prospera Place opened its doors as a makeshift shelter for those who had been evacuated.

“I could use the word turning point but it wasn’t a turning point, it was our finest hour,” said Gray.