By Dominic Abassi

NNN’s top 5 of 2018: the Nanaimo Lakes wildfire

Dec 28, 2018 | 2:37 PM

NANAIMO — After several summers spent watching wildfires lay waste to thousands of acres of forest and homes in B.C.’s interior, the powerful force of nature touched Nanaimo in 2018 in a way few can ever remember.

One of the largest fires on Vancouver Island in modern history torched nearly 500-acres of land along Nanaimo River Rd., causing widespread unease to a city less than 20 kilometres away, claiming the life of a man and forcing dozens of rural homeowners to be prepared to leave in a moment’s notice.

First reported by NanaimoNewsNOW as an out-of-control, five-acre blaze on a lazy summer Sunday on Aug. 5, an initial response team was met with a harrowing sight as the helicopter carrying them to the scene revealed the scope of the person-caused fire.

“I knew we were in trouble. I knew straight away we had a pretty serious fire on our hands,” B.C. Wildfire Service firefighter Eben Sedun told NanaimoNewsNOW in an interview about a month after the fire was brought under control.

While thousands were alarmed to hear of a wildfire burning so close to Nanaimo, the general consensus was the situation would be quickly handled like so many of the spot fires we’re used to seeing in the region during the dry season.

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The consensus was dead wrong.

By Monday evening, what became known as the Nanaimo Lakes fire was roaring uncontained at nearly 300-acres in size.

Sedun, like so many of his colleagues, pulled off a continuous 20-hour shift as firefighters, supported by heavy machinery and aircraft, struggled to gain control of the beastly blaze.

On Aug. 6, the Regional District of Nanaimo declared a local state of emergency, ordering an area near the wildfire believed to be home to a small camp community evacuated and placing 77 homes east of the fire on evacuation alert.

Later that same day, tragedy struck.

Nanaimo’s Darrell Drake passed away from natural causes while working the fire alongside firefighters as a contractor for TimberWest.

Crews were badly shaken by Drake’s passing but were forced to press ahead in their fight against the flames

The evacuation alert created an opportunity for the best of Nanaimo’s community spirit to be put on full display.

Dozes and dozens of locals rushed to offer support to those affected by the fire, offering lodging, shelter for animals and anything else anyone needed.

Finally, after 11 days of battle, the 450-acre monster was considered held by fire crews and it officially entered the mop-up phase on Aug. 30.

As many as 50 firefighters toiled on the scene and many around Nanaimo gained new respect for the struggles of those in B.C.’s interior in dealing with the new and frightening reality created by climate change and dry summer heat.

The story captivated the community, earning almost daily updates and becoming NanaimoNewsNOW‘s most viewed story of the year.

While the fire is considered human-caused, the exact ignition source is still under investigation.

Strong reminders to respect the fire ban, respect the forest and respect those who run into the flames when the rest of us are ordered out of them.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi