Williams Lake

[maryjane48]

cbc radio in that area is all fire news now . its goood to have cbc for times like this

[Glacier]

12 thousand in city plus another 12 thousand surrounding the city for a total of 24 thousand evacuated. It was absolute gridlock. Took 3 hours to get to 100 Mile House on a mostly 4 lane highway that should take 1 hour. Then, they had to take the small 2 lane highway 24 over to Little Fort. Then merge in with the highway 5 traffic to get to Kamloops. It took all night, and it's normally a 3 hour drive from Williams Lake to Kamloops, even going highway 24 way.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4207323

[Queen K]

Add Lake Country evacuees to that stream and it's all Hell in BC this year.

[dle]

cbc radio in that area is all fire news now . its goood to have cbc for times like this

Yep (and I like CBC all the time not just in times of distress)

[Glacier]

[Queen K]

^^ It looks like Lakes of Fire from Hell. Dante anyone?

[Glacier]

Here's what it looked like as everyone was leaving...

[dle]

Here's what it looked like as everyone was leaving...

evacuatingWL.jpg

IF there is any possible way you can leave an area when you are on Alert as opposed to Order, wouldn't it just make more sense just do it? Why wait til there are hundreds and hundreds of vehicles, on order, trying to escape a raging wildfire on one or two roads out. IF you are put on alert, and you are all packed up and ready to roll, my vote is roll! I would have to just grab the furries and go before the other thousands of people are doing the same thing. I know there are extenuating circumstances that could make that move a very last minute thing for some people but for the majority it just makes so much more sense to leave.

Fires as we have learned are completely unpredictable. The wind can change direction in a nano-second and close off one or more of the planned escape routes then there are even more people on fewer roads. There are so many intangibles that need to be considered.

If you've been put on alert and especially if it is a monster fire like this one I don't think there is anything more YOU can do. My thought is to let the pro's do their jobs and if your place is going to get hit you can't stop it at that point, but you can save yourself some panic and fear and get out in a bit more orderly fashion and actually make a bit of a plan.

Just my humble opinion and having had friends stuck in traffic jams trying to evacuate they have said NEVER AGAIN....when the alert is sounded for them they will be packed and out of there. If nothing happens, be thankful and just return home.

[Glacier]

[dle]

12 thousand in city plus another 12 thousand surrounding the city for a total of 24 thousand evacuated. It was absolute gridlock. Took 3 hours to get to 100 Mile House on a mostly 4 lane highway that should take 1 hour. Then, they had to take the small 2 lane highway 24 over to Little Fort. Then merge in with the highway 5 traffic to get to Kamloops. It took all night, and it's normally a 3 hour drive from Williams Lake to Kamloops, even going highway 24 way.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.4207323

I posted a reply to this post yesterday but see I accidentally attached it to a different one by you Glacier - I'll just copy it here where it should have been!

IF there is any possible way you can leave an area when you are on Alert as opposed to Order, wouldn't it just make more sense just do it? Why wait til there are hundreds and hundreds of vehicles, on order, trying to escape a raging wildfire on one or two roads out. IF you are put on alert, and you are all packed up and ready to roll, my vote is roll! I would have to just grab the furries and go before the other thousands of people are doing the same thing. I know there are extenuating circumstances that could make that move a very last minute thing for some people but for the majority it just makes so much more sense to leave.

Fires as we have learned are completely unpredictable. The wind can change direction in a nano-second and close off one or more of the planned escape routes then there are even more people on fewer roads. There are so many tangibles that need to be considered.

If you've been put on alert and especially if it is a monster fire like this one I don't think there is anything more YOU can do. My thought is to let the pro's do their jobs and if your place is going to get hit you can't stop it at that point, but you can save yourself some panic and fear and get out in a bit more orderly fashion and actually make a bit of a plan.

Just my humble opinion and having had friends stuck in traffic jams trying to evacuate they have said NEVER AGAIN....when the alert is sounded for them they will be packed and out of there. If nothing happens, be thankful and just return home.

[Merry]

I may be wrong about this but I think it can affect your insurance claim if you leave prior to there being an evacuation order.

Those who are ordered out are eligible to claim expenses for things like hotels, meals, gas and pet care. But that may not apply to folks who leave prior to the order.

[dle]

I may be wrong about this but I think it can affect your insurance claim if you leave prior to there being an evacuation order.

Those who are ordered out are eligible to claim expenses for things like hotels, meals, gas and pet care. But that may not apply to folks who leave prior to the order.

interesting point Merry! I hadn't heard anything about this but would be a good thing to look into. That would certainly explain why so many people choose to wait and end up caught in the jams....

[dle]

I may be wrong about this but I think it can affect your insurance claim if you leave prior to there being an evacuation order.

Those who are ordered out are eligible to claim expenses for things like hotels, meals, gas and pet care. But that may not apply to folks who leave prior to the order.

interesting point Merry! I hadn't heard anything about this but would be a good thing to look into. That would certainly explain why so many people choose to wait and end up caught in the jams....

Out of curiosity I just called an insurance company and asked this question - sounds like you are correct Merry. I was told that if you leave during the alert, before being actually ordered out, you would be responsible for your own hotels and emergency services etc.

Would explain why so many people choose to wait and get caught up in the chaos.

[Glacier]

^BUT if you register with the evacuation centre, you get food vouchers and money for accommodations.

If my dad were to do it over again, he would not have left earlier, but rather, later... or at the very least taken the Dog Creek Road to avoid all the traffic.

The people that waited until the next day to leave didn't have any line-up problems.

[dle]

^BUT if you register with the evacuation centre, you get food vouchers and money for accommodations.

If my dad were to do it over again, he would not have left earlier, but rather, later... or at the very least taken the Dog Creek Road to avoid all the traffic.

The people that waited until the next day to leave didn't have any line-up problems.

So to clarify Glacier, it sounds to me like you saying that even if you leave early, on Alert, not on Order, IF you register WITH THE Evac centre you CAN get food vouchers & $$ for accommodations? That kind of sounds the opposite of what the insurance company told me. They were pretty specific that you had to be under Order to leave in order to get any emergency services $$ so I am a bit confused (nothing new!)