Through the flames for PTSD: the man who walked through B.C.'s fire zone
'It was a raging inferno,' says Prince George man
Walking through an active forest fire zone in British Columbia's Interior was not part of Robert Gagnon's original trip itinerary, but he soldiered through the flames for his cause.
The 44-year-old Prince George man left his hometown on June 28 with the goal of walking to Victoria to raise money and awareness about veterans and first responders with post traumatic stress disorder.
Gagnon arrived in one of the first wildfire hot spots, in Lac La Hache, just in time to witness the beginning of a provincewide state of emergency that is still in effect two weeks later.
"When I first saw that fire start in Lac La Hache it was just a puff of smoke in the air," Gagnon told Carolina de Ryk, host of CBC's Daybreak North.
By the time I got down toward 100 Mile [House] it was a raging inferno."
Escorted through the flames
Gagnon reached 100 Mile House before the town was evacuated and spent the night in a hotel there.
"We could literally see the flames behind the golf course there, I believe it was the Gustafson fire … it was bad," he said.
From there, his route took him south along Highway 97 to Clinton, where the road was closed due to fires, including the devastating Ashcroft Reserve fire that destroyed about 30 homes in Boston Flats.
Gagnon said he considered detouring about 80 kilometres through Lillooet, but once he introduced himself, officials stationed in Clinton agreed to escort him through the danger zone to a safer area south of Ashcroft.
This morning <a href="https://twitter.com/pfbcgeu">@pfbcgeu</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/kari_em">@kari_em</a> joined Robert Gagnon's walk for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PTSD?src=hash">#PTSD</a> as he walked towards the ferry on his way to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BCLeg?src=hash">#BCLeg</a> <a href="https://t.co/Wm3zK2yyOp">pic.twitter.com/Wm3zK2yyOp</a>
—@bcgeuOn Thursday, Gagnon was joined by a parade of members of the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union who walked alongside him on Highway 17 in B.C.'s Lower Mainland enroute to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal. But he's been hearing from first responders throughout the walk.
"Their stories are a lot more horrific than what I've been through in my life," said Gagnon.
He plans to be on the early ferry to Schwartz Bay, Friday morning, when he'll begin an estimated five-hour walk to Victoria.
"I'll be up at zero-dark-thirty" he said. "My mission will be complete when I step on the lawn of the legislature."
With files from CBC Radio One's Daybreak North