Students and teachers report feelings of anxiety amid wildfire disruptions on 1st day of school

Residents of British Columbia's Shuswap region must wait another day for evacuation orders to lift in wildfire-ravaged areas of the community, complicating the return to school for some students.

Meanwhile, students and teachers in parts of the the Okanagan Valley are facing uncertainty and struggling to find housing following a summer of evacuation alerts and orders. 

The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District says in a message on its website that the year will begin a day late, with a half day of classes on Wednesday for most of its roughly 6,000 students.

The district says students from North Shuswap Elementary, the area where wildfires devastated several communities, won't start school until next Monday and will be temporarily relocated almost 50 kilometres away while power is restored and repairs are made.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District says evacuation orders tied to the Bush Creek East wildfire will drop to alerts on Wednesday, allowing Celista and Magna Bay residents to return in the early afternoon, followed over the next several hours by residents of Scotch Creek, Lee Creek, the Lower East Adams Lake area and Tsutswecw park.

Shuswap fires destroyed 176 structures

Regional district information officer Tim Conrad says the wildfire has destroyed 176 homes, cabins and other structures in the north Shuswap and damaged another 50.

The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre rescinded all remaining evacuation alerts on Tuesday for properties in Lake Country and the City of Kelowna, although it said orders and alerts remain in place in West Kelowna and for the Westbank First Nation because the McDougall Creek wildfire remains out of control.

Thousands of people were chased from their homes starting Aug. 17 when the McDougall Creek fire was fanned by strong winds and quickly burned numerous homes.

The B.C. Wildfire Service says more than 430 fires are currently burning across the province, with 201 still ranked as out of control and 14 rated as fires of note, meaning they are highly visible or continue to threaten property or public safety.

The wildfire service website says there have been just under 2,100 fires since the start of the season on April 1.

Almost $600 million has been spent by the province on wildfire costs by the end of August, nearly triple the $204 million set aside in the 2023 budget.

'Dizzying' start to semester

Cade Desjarlais, president of the student union at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus (UBCO), says many students are experiencing uncertainty following evacuation orders and alerts in the area.

On Aug. 18, UBCO staff and 200 summer students were forced to evacuate the campus due to the McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna. 

"The last couple of weeks have been a little stressful, a little dizzying at some points," Desjarlais said, adding students are now struggling to pay for flight changes or find accommodations given the influx of wildfire evacuees. 

"[Students are] struggling to pay changed flight tickets, buses, food, groceries, just kind of even basic necessities," he told CBC's The Early Edition. 

"The premise of having to change one's schedule for even a couple days has a lot of financial burden on students, especially when, for the most part, they're living semester to semester."

Desjarlais says in recent weeks, evacuees have come into areas typically occupied by students in West Kelowna, making it difficult for people to find accommodations before classes start. 

While "a couple thousand students" manage to find housing on campus, Desjarlais says others are forced to look elsewhere in the areas surrounding UBCO. 

"Of course, we want to be able to open our arms and let people stay in a safe place."

"But there are very real consequences to students in that some of these residences … are now removed from websites. They're kind of up in the air as to where they're going to stay," he said. 

Desjarlais says the post-secondary school has established an emergency assistance fund to provide low-barrier financial support for students looking to pay flight costs, grocery bills, and more. 

"The numbers change every day, but I think over $200,000 [has been] given out to students in financial need. So the need is there, and it's growing," said Desjarlais. 

'Getting harder and harder'

As K-12 students return to school across the province, Clint Johnston, the president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation (BCTF), says teachers in wildfire-affected areas are feeling the pressure to support themselves and their incoming classes.

He says teachers not only have to focus on the curriculum but also figure out how to support students' mental health during an ongoing wildfire season. 

"It's getting harder and harder to get through the necessary curriculum … how [are teachers] going to make sure that [they] get the job done, that [students] learn, but also that they have time to go through the process of possibly grieving," he said. 

Johnston says the BCTF has been calling for improved ventilation in schools due to wildfire smoke. 

In a statement, Minister of Education Rachna Singh acknowledged the ongoing effects of wildfires on students, staff and families and thanked school districts for their support during wildfire evacuations. 

"The staff at these schools and school districts have shown an incredible amount of resiliency and dedication to their students and communities. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and work directly with school districts to provide support," she said.