Volunteer firefighter gets married amid the flames of B.C.'s wildfires
'It's been a crazy few weeks'
B.C. firefighters have had a hectic couple of weeks as they battle wildfires across the province.
But it's been even busier for Ashcroft's Ryan and Alicia Lake, who found time amid the chaos to get married on Saturday.
"Usually, you're supposed to be nervous for weddings, but it was almost like, ahh," he said, sighing in relief.
"It's been a crazy few weeks."
'Nothing we could do'
Lake has been putting in days as long as 16 hours fighting fires near his home in Ashcroft, northwest of Kamloops. He recalled a particularly dramatic day when his team responded to a wildfire threatening the Ashcroft Indian Band reserve.
"[We] came around the corner, and a little girl who I coach hockey to, her house was half gone," Lake said.
"All you could do at that point was drive by that house. There was nothing we could do."
It was a similar scene when the team responded to a fire near Boston Flats to find a local RCMP officer's house just starting to catch.
"We kind of beat ourselves up. You know, you lost a few houses," Lake said. "But at the same time, I think there's two in the bluffs above Boston Flats that we probably saved."
Lake was nervous heading into the weekend that ongoing fire and smoke would threaten the wedding, but everything ended up going off without at hitch.
"We are sure looking forward to Thursday morning, getting on a plane for our honeymoon, because we certainly need a break," Lake said.