Lytton man describes harrowing evacuation before Saw Creek fire destroyed his home

As Hugh Poole woke from an afternoon nap on Friday last week, he looked out the window to appreciate the beautiful day. The sun was shining and a breeze was blowing. 

But something didn’t look quite right. 

The clouds were moving a little too quickly, their shadows on the trees flashing before his eyes. 

Suddenly, he realized those fluffy plumes weren’t clouds — Poole was watching as smoke and flames blew toward his home near Lytton, B.C.

He called a friend to find out if she knew anything about it, and she urged him to leave his home immediately. Poole threw a few things in his van and drove off, not realizing it would be the last time he saw his home standing.

The Saw Creek fire, discovered last Friday, on June 19, continues to burn out of control just south of Lytton — the village in B.C.’s Interior that was destroyed by wildfire around this time five years ago. 

Dozens of properties in the area remain on evacuation order, while the residents of many others have been told to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire is estimated at 7.04 square kilometres (704 hectares) in size. Aviation support, heavy equipment and structure protection personnel are supporting nearly 200 wildland firefighters as they battle the blaze, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service.  

A boil water notice is in effect for the Village of Lytton, Klahkamich IR 17 and Klickkumcheen IR 18.

The fire is believed to be human-caused, a classification given to any fire not started by lightning.

Left in a hurry

When Poole, 76, drove down from his home and into the village, he realized he hadn’t put a shirt on after his nap. 

“I grabbed all the wrong things. It’s a panic, flight and fright. And you just, you don’t know what you put in your vehicle,” he told CBC’s Daybreak Kamloops on Tuesday. 

That wasn’t the only thing he left behind — Poole realized he was without his wallet, and had no money or identification on him.  

“I went and talked to the fire guys getting water in town … and I told them I was evacuated and I said, but I have no money and no ID. And he said ‘good … that means that you took care of yourself. Number one important thing to take care of is getting yourself out of there because that does so much for us and you’re standing here now.’” 

’30 years gone’

Officials took Poole into his property earlier this week to survey the damage. 

“It was like driving into somebody else’s place that had a fire. It was all gone. Thirty years gone,” he said. 

“I just stood over the foundation, looking down into a pit of roofing.”

All is not lost, Poole said. Two years ago, he started storing bags of important items and documents at a friend’s house in Maple Ridge. 

“I’ve got my birth certificate … so I’ve got ID, but I don’t have it available,” he said. 

He advises others to do the same — prepare ahead.

“Expect the unexpected,” he said. “One of the things that I learned to do is first of all, not have any recriminations about what you didn’t do, and maybe even pinch yourself a bit and say ‘I’m here.'”