'It's just such a shame': B.C. residents open their homes to wildfire evacuees with little response
'Somehow there is a disconnect between those who are offering help and those who need help'
Several B.C. residents are offering free accommodation for wildfire evacuees, as an alternative to emergency centres and evacuation shelters but many say they have not been taken up on their offers.
As of Monday afternoon, a total of 39,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes since the start of the wildfire crisis.
Eleven emergency reception shelters have been provided by the province, but home owners have also offered their residences.
Brian MacKay, a website developer from Alberta is the creator of OpenDoors.site, a peer accommodation service for short term, ad-hoc accommodation provided for the current fires in B.C., a spinoff of ymmfire.ca, a similar site that MacKay created for the Fort McMurray fires in 2016.
"It's essentially a message board where people can leave details on how to get in touch or what they need and then it is very self-serving ..." said MacKay.
We have an empty furnished room and can take a couple, or a single person plus pet. Located in Langley BC. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCWildfire?src=hash">#BCWildfire</a> DM me for more info.
—@yeg2yvrMedicSo far, the B.C. focused website has received 60 messages since its launch over a week ago. They include about 100 offers of beds and a few dozen RV and pet boarding spaces.
MacKay isn't clear on how many offers were accepted since not all users update him, but when CBC news contacted individuals making posts, several peoples said their offers still stand.
MacKay says there are a lot of benefits in accepting an offer to someone's home, including mental relief from a traumatic experience.
"You know you certainly share meals, have someone to talk to and you have your own bedroom in most cases. You are not sharing an arena bathroom with 10,000 people," said Mackay.
He says government-provided services are also quite important, especially considering the large number of evacuees, but points out a calm environment can make all the difference.
"People who are opening up their homes are not in the same level of stress, so they can help reduce stress levels for evacuees."
People offering accommodation
In addition to Mackay's site, Facebook pages, such as B.C. Wildfire Temp Housing Accommodations, B.C. Relocation Support for Forest Fire Evacuees and individual Twitter posts have popped up with similar offers.
Michelle Vaugeois, one of the administrators of B.C. Wildfire Temp Housing Accommodations says that more people are offering than requesting accommodation, because not everyone knows about the group, even though it is needed.
Jason Austin from central Saanich, B.C., has posted his five-acre farm offering free accommodation on both Facebook pages, but he still has yet to hear back from an evacuee.
"It was kind of discouraging that we kept sort of repeating the advertisement, saying look, I've got a big house and some acres — love to take in some families," said Austin.
"The idea is terrific in principle and here's the public reaching out to our fellow citizen, but somehow the message doesn't seem to be coming through."
Although Austin acknowledges he is some distance from the Interior, even though B.C. Ferries is providing complementary prearranged travel for wildfire evacuees, he says that people on the mainland are facing similar situations and the Red Cross should step in.
"Isn't it a tragedy? They say that there are about [40,000] people displaced right now, and they are ending up in gymnasiums and the high schools and things. People are offering homes to come to ... it just seems such a shame. I don't know the answer to it and I don't know why people are not giving the word."
