B.C. fires: Dan and Jan Coates lost everything in Puntzi Lake fire
Woodland Caribou Resort destroyed in aggressive fast-growing wildfire
When Caribou Woodland Resort owner Dan Coates noticed smoke while he was fishing on Friday, little did he know that before the day was out he and his wife would be fleeing their home and business with a 30-metre wall of flame at their backs.
The Puntzi Lake wildfire, burning 150 kilometres west of Williams Lake, B.C., grew nearly six times in size between Friday and Saturday, increasing from 12 to 70 square kilometres.
The B.C. Wildfire Management Branch classified it at Rank 4 to 5 wildfire, making it the most aggressive wildfire burning in B.C. A fire of that rank causes entire trees to candle and spreads by crowning or jumping through the tree-tops.
Coates says his first thought was to phone the fire in but crews at the air tanker base told him they were already working on it. A short time later he received a visit from Cariboo Fire Centre personnel who told him to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
30-metre wall of flame
Coates decided to send his guests away and started hosing down the property.
"So I had my fire pump up and I was wetting down the ground, hosing down the roof, that kind of thing and when Jan saw our last guest leave she came to see me and said, 'Dan look behind you.'" he said.
"And I turned around because I had my back to that side of the lodge and it was just a 100-foot wall of flame not far from where we were and I just looked at Jan and said, you know what, we gotta go."
"We had winds," recalled Jan Coates. "The fire was making its own weather and our floor mats were all floating. It was like hurricane winds so we left. Our neighbours were sitting on their decks waiting for the evacuation order, but you just knew you didn't have time."
Thankfully the Coates said everyone on their part of the lake managed to get out safely ahead of the fire.
On Sunday, Jan Coates, now safe in Maple Ridge, B.C., cried as she watched Cariboo Regional District footage from a flyover of her destroyed property. Her husband Dan says he is still trying to wrap his head around it.
"It's a life-changer," he said. "It's not just a resort and how we made a living. It was our home, everything we have is ... was there. The Cariboo Fire Centre, I think they're all heroes. They gave us time to get our people out. Otherwise I think it would have been a deadly fire."
For those still on Puntzi Lake, there has been some relief. Rain over the weekend has allowed crews to contain 30 per cent of the fire, mainly on its southwest flank.
There are more than 250 active fires still burning across B.C.
And while rain and cooler weather is a welcome relief, fire officials say it's not sticking around long enough to make a major difference.
With files from the CBC's Richard Zussman