It wasn鈥檛 the Welcome Wagon banging on Alycia Butler鈥檚 door.

Not at 1 a.m.

Butler 鈥� who, along with her partner, Dave, and their son Hemingway, lost their North Shuswap home in the Bush Creek East wildfire a few weeks earlier 鈥� was alerted to a spot fire near their Scotch Creek rental home in the early hours of Thursday, Sept. 14. She and her family had only moved into the home less than a week earlier.

鈥淜risty Pollock is my friend, who also lost her home in Celista, and she came banging on my door at 1 a.m.,鈥� said Butler. 鈥淗er daughter happened to let their cat outside and noticed the fire on the hillside. They鈥檙e also renting a house in Scotch Creek.鈥�

The fire was on the slope on Squilax-Anglemont Road at Butters Road, just above were the old Scotch Creek Pub used to be, and very close to where a new home is being built. A spot fire flared up on the spot Wednesday morning with locals helping to extinguish it.

It鈥檚 believed a touch of wind late Wednesday/early Thursday caused the fire to flare up once more.

Pollock and Butler both called 911, along with local Scotch Creek firefighters Corey Cyr and Dave Van Oirschot. Both men had stayed behind in August to fight the wildfire.

鈥淭hey were the first two on the scene, and it was about 40 minutes later when three fire trucks showed up,鈥� said Butler. 鈥淭hen we started calling friends who we know stayed behind.鈥�

The fire was extinguished again, save for some smouldering smoke Butler could see around lunch time on Thursday.

鈥淭he firefighters were so close to our place we could hear them talking, that鈥檚 how close it was,鈥� said Butler. 鈥淭hey had headlights from the trucks and spotlights helping them out at 3 a.m.鈥�

Butler and her family hadn鈥檛 unpacked their emergency bags since evacuating from their Disdero Road home Aug. 18, and don鈥檛 plan to unpack them for the next while.

鈥淭his (spot fires) is going to go for a while,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be an uneasy couple of nights. Helicopters were blazing through the area Wednesday. There was a spot fire beside where my house once stood.

鈥淵ou start to wonder if we can just catch a break.鈥�

roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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