As an evacuation order for the Village of Slocan came into effect at 8 a.m. Sunday morning, evacuees were already lined up at the Emergency Support Services centre set up at the Castlegar campus of Selkirk College.
The evacuation order was due to the Slocan Lake Fire Complex including the Aylwin Creek, Wilson Creek, Ponderosa, Mulvey Creek, and Nemo Creek wildfires.
The village and surrounding area had been on an evacuation alert since July 23. The Regional District of Central Kootenay issued the evacuation order around 4:30 p.m. Saturday (July 27), but residents were given until 8 a.m. the next morning to leave the area.
But according to Slocan resident Carrie Adams, many went ahead and left Saturday night.
By 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon, about 100 families had registered with ESS in Castlegar, according to RDCK spokesperson Dan Elliot.
When evacuees arrived on site they were greeted by friendly support workers and offered access to water and washrooms while they waited.
Processing all of the evacuees moved slowly with less than 50 families completed by the afternoon while people clustered in shady spots around the campus in 30 degree heat.
Some evacuees opted to leave the site for a few hours, only to return and discover their turn was still quite a ways off.
Elliot said the main reason for the delays was simply the large number of people that were all evacuated and arriving at the centre at the same time.
As of July 30, there were 1310 properties on evacuation order and 713 on evacuation alert within the RDCK.
Elliot added that more support workers were being called in with the hope that processing times could begin to move along faster.
The RDCK said that the centre would stay open Sunday until everyone waiting there had been processed. It was also scheduled to reopen Monday morning at 8 a.m.
By Monday afternoon 106 households had registered at the Castlegar reception centre and a total of 190 households had registered at one of the three ESS on-site centres in the RDCK. Another 191 households registered online.
In addition to the reception centre, some of Selkirk's dorm rooms are available for evacuees who need a place to say.
"A majority of the households are taking the accommodation allowance, rather then staying at Selkirk College or any of the other options (motel, hotel, campground) we are provide," said Elliot. "ESS is trying to be flexible for people to be close to friends and family."
Adams said that in spite of the tense situation, attitudes around Slocan had remained positive over the last week.
"Everybody is helping everybody. I think most people are focused on helping each other out."
However, she did say that the intense smoke hovering in the village had been difficult to deal with.
"It has been stressful, but I am pretty confident the firefighters will be able to handle it," added Adams.
Another evacuee that left Slocan on Sunday morning said things were quiet in the community and there was hardly anyone on the roads as he left.
This is the second time in a matter of days that he had to evacuate. His home is actually one of those near Silverton that was evacuated about a week ago. When that evacuation took place, he went to stay with a friend in the Village of Slocan.
He said he was holding up "good enough."
"You go through enough in life, you pick up a little something here, a little something there.
"There is nothing you can do about it. I can't go up there and stop the fire – I can only hope the guys that are up there can."
Joanna Vanbynen left her home near the village's beach Saturday night to go stay with a friend in Castlegar.
One night when looking up at the fire, Vanbynen said it was so lit up that it looked like a city.
"That is when I packed my truck. I thought, I am getting out of here soon."
She says that in spite of being packed and prepared for the evacuation during the alert phase, she still felt a little bit of panic when the order officially came down.
"I am so appreciative of what everyone is doing," said Vanbynen. "Everybody is so helpful."
Evacuees can register for support services on the province's ESS website at ess.gov.bc.ca, but several Slocan evacuees reported that the process was difficult to navigate.
Wildfire evacuees that need help with online registration for ESS or general information can also call the BC Evacuee Helpline at 1-800-387-4258.
Evacuees can also report in person to the Kaslo Royal Canadian Legion and the Nakusp & District Community Complex.
A number of evacuation alerts and orders remain in place throughout the RDCK. Updated information can be found at RDCK.ca.
As of Tuesday morning, the Mulvey Creek wildfire covered more than 1000 hectares, The Ponderosa wildfire covered 671 hectares, Aylwin Creek was over 600 hectares, the Komonko Creek wildfire was 2288 hectares and the Nemo Creek wildfire was 4694 hectares.
