An evacuation order was issued on Sept. 2 at around 8:30 p.m. for the Wells Creek wildfire.

Southside resident Nathan Nicholas owner and brewer of Ursa Minor Brewing, his family business, did not leave their home when the order was issued.

鈥淭he fire was over 15 kilometers away on the other side and there are a lot of water and land between us,鈥� Nicholas said. 鈥淲e鈥檇 already done a lot of fire safe preparation around our place over the last five years since the 2018 fires.鈥�

鈥淟ong weekends are always very, very good,鈥� Nicholas said. During the weekend, he sold 2000 litres of beers on Saturday, Sept. 2. He said, 鈥渟ales were fairly high.

Although, he had to shutdown his brewery for a day in respective of the evacuation order.

鈥淲e were closed on Sunday. We missed a day of the long weekend which is quite a bit, and campers left early because of the order,鈥� Nicholas said.

鈥淭he fires in July were smoky and a lot of campers canceled their visits. We鈥檝e had to deal with fires a lot over the last few years in a row. Now, its not just here but everywhere in the country,鈥� Nicholas said.

Fires affect tourism business and people鈥檚 decision to visit certain areas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just this part of the reality with climate change and everything,鈥� Nicholas said.

The Wells Creek wildfire evacuation has rescinded on Tuesday, Sept. 5. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thankful for that,鈥� he said.

Nicholas said the residents of 亚洲天堂 Lake are liking their new Centennial beer which they made for 亚洲天堂 Lake鈥檚 100 birthday.

鈥淲e鈥檙e almost sold out on the first batch that we鈥檝e made. We made 500 litres [thousand cans or five barrels] and we don鈥檛 have too much of it left. People are ordering at the brewery and we鈥檝e gotten more sales work orders from the liquor stores in town too,鈥� Nicholas said.

鈥淲e have 15 different recipes that cycled through the list. We are going to make another batch of our summer beers [little blue boat], and then we鈥檙e going to switch to making more of the stronger darker ones that sell better in the fall and winter,鈥� Nicholas said.

On Friday nights, the brewery鈥檚 sales are always strong.

He said he will be making more Centennial beer if there is still demand for it. 鈥淲e can certainly keep making it.鈥�

At the end of October, right after the hunting season, Nicholas will be closing their campgrounds.