Terri Carlson was patrolling the Bowron Lakes, a popular canoe circuit in the B.C. Interior, when she realized something was wrong.

"We saw all these clouds of smoke at the far end of the lake," she recalled.

Carlson, a backcountry operator contracted to Bowron Lakes Provincial Park, started reporting the plumes only to discover fires had broken out across the region.

"We started realizing the situation was a lot bigger than Bowron," she recalled.

In fact, it was the same day 3,600 people were ordered from their homes throughout the interior, including 2,050 properties in the Cariboo Fire Centre which contains the Bowron Lakes.

"It was sort of like, OK, you're on your own," Carlson said.

What followed was a situation she describes as "three days of chaos."

The Bowron Lakes are a 116-kilometre canoe circuit completed through a series of portages, which Carlson says normally take about a week to complete.

She and her fellow park operators had to get over 250 campers out in less than half that time, and it had to be done by boat and foot.

While there are some small motorized boats along the lakes for rapid access, evacuees still had to make long treks by foot carrying their gear and canoes.

"Some of them were pretty exhausted," Carlson said.

"It was pretty intense."

What stands out for her, however, is how well everyone took the news their vacation was being cut short.

"Everyone still had a smile on their face and was super appreciative of us trying to get them out," she said, adding the adrenaline of seeing the nearby fires may have been extra motivation for rapid escape.

"You could see the smoke coming over the ridge, so that's encouraging."