Forest fires 'surreal' so close to home, says Bocabec evacuee
Evacuation order remains in place as crews make progress against southwestern N.B. fires
It's an emotional roller-coaster for Dawn Dunfield as she waits and watches for updates on the Saint Andrews-area forest fires and on the status of her home.
"You go from everything from — everything's gonna be fine, like, we're gonna be back home within 24 hours, to what if we're not? What if everything is gone?
"And you know, any possibility is possible, I guess," Dunfield said Monday afternoon, as the fires spread over 600 acres, or about 250 hectares, destroyed one home, and forced the evacuation of about 300 others, according to Saint Andrews Mayor Brad Henderson.
As of mid-afternoon, 160 people from 67 households had registered with the Red Cross as being evacuees, according to a news release from the province, which noted additional people may not have registered.
The fires started Sunday afternoon with an ATV fire in the woods off South Glenelg Road in Chamcook, just outside Saint Andrews and quickly got out of control because of the combination of high winds, dry conditions and hot temperatures.
Hoping for the best
Dunfield, who lives in Bocabec, about 17 kilometres northeast of Saint Andrews, was hosting a group of people at her home-based business on Fiander Road at the time, unaware of what was going on until one of her guests pointed out the smoke.
Within about an hour, they saw police going door-to-door, advising people of an evacuation order, she said.
"It was a little surreal. It still is, honestly."
It didn't take long to pack up the essentials, said Dunfield — "pets, of course, and you know, important documents and computers and some sentimental items as well."
Her husband took the pets to the St. Stephen area, to stay with family. Dunfield stayed in Saint Andrews "to be closer to what was going on and hopefully receive some updates."
"We're just hoping for the best and we're assuming at this point that no news is good news. And yeah, staying tuned to the phone … and checking in here to see if they have any updates as well," she said, of the W.C. O'Neill Arena, which has been opened as an emergency shelter and is offering food and accommodation.
Her heart goes out to the people who lost their home, she said, and she's grateful to the volunteer firefighters, businesses and individuals who have reached out to help.
"It's mind-blowing how kind and generous people are being right now, and it's so appreciated."
'You never expect it to happen to you'
Jay Epstein, who also lives on Fiander Road, said he's praying his home will be OK and that everyone stays safe.
He watched in horror as the fire tore through the trees, jumped Highway 127 and stretched "quite close" to homes on his street overnight Sunday, he said.
"It was super high, flames were just raging yesterday and on top of [Kerrs] Ridge, so it was pretty surreal to see.
"It's like what you see on TV and you never expect it to happen to you, but when it does … it brings you to a different level in life."
Epstein and his wife had been enjoying a drink by the water Sunday afternoon when she smelled some smoke. At first, they thought someone was having a fire, but then they saw "quite a big cloud" of smoke coming across Bocabec Mountain.
They stayed in Penfield, but drove back Monday morning to see what was going on.
"It looks like we didn't t get hit, so thank God. But it's sparking up there again on Spur Road. So we just thank all the [firefighters] that were there all night, for sure."
Evacuation order remains in place
An evacuation order remains in place for Bocabec, Chamcook and surrounding areas in southwestern New Brunswick, and is expected to remain in place until at least Tuesday night, according to Saint Andrews fire Chief Kevin Theriault.
Crews have made progress, and he expected they would have the fires under control later in the day Monday or on Tuesday.
"But this will be a long, drawn-out firefight for everybody, for hotspots," he said.
'Fascinating but frightening'
Melanie Ryall witnessed the speed of the fire.
She had just come inside from gardening on Sunday afternoon when her husband told her there appeared to be a fire on the other side of Chamcook Lake.
"We have a pretty panoramic view of that direction," she said. "So we just kind of watched it starting to really billow up."
She jumped on social media and saw people posting about the fire and immediately thought of her family who live in the area. Her brother, who she said is visually impaired and unable to drive, was Ryall's primary concern.
She drove toward his house and came upon a roadblock. She informed the officials of her situation and was let through.
When she arrived at her brother's home in Bocabec, a community where she lived for 30 years, one of his friends was already there trying to persuade him to go.
Ryall said her brother was unsure about leaving, so she decided to drive up to the top of Potter Lane, her brother's road.
"It was incredible how quickly that materialized from just sort of [a] faint look of smoke off in the distance and then all of a sudden, just this sort of orange glow coming towards the houses," she said.
"I just took a picture of it, and jumped in my car and said to my brother, 'We have to go,' and as he was standing there still hemming and hawing, a fire team drove up and said, 'You have to leave now.'"
Ryall said watching the fire come up over the hillside was "fascinating, but frightening."
She said while the fire likely wasn't dangerously close to her, it looked like as it were right there because of its size.
"In the neighbourhood that I love … it was just like it had its own kind of malevolent presence," she said.
By the time she left the neighbourhood, with her brother safely with his friend, she didn't have any confidence that the surrounding homes would survive the night. But as of Monday afternoon, her brother's home was still standing.
With files from Hannah Rudderham and Alexandre Silberman