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'It's getting worse every year' Clinton, B.C., mayor on wildfires · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: So we want to continue to track that and for
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: that and the situation specifically in Clinton, British Columbia, we've
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  Speaker 1: reached that community's.
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  Speaker 2: Mayor Roland's Thanky.
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  Speaker 1: He joins us now from Kamloops, thank you for making
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  Speaker 1: time for us today.
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  Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Eric Arthy, thank you. It's great to
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  Speaker 3: be thank you.
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  Speaker 1: I want to start by maybe asking you what we
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  Speaker 1: know so far as the latest in terms of the
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  Speaker 1: situation in Clinton.
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  Speaker 2: Where do things stand right now?
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  Speaker 3: Well, at the present time, we have an assessment team
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  Speaker 3: in town to do an assessment, a structural assessment, and
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  Speaker 3: the volunteer fire department is going around with them to
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  Speaker 3: look in for any spot fires, any hot embers, to
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  Speaker 3: make sure all those things are under control.
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  Speaker 1: And as that work is being done, we know that
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  Speaker 1: certainly many people have had to leave their homes. What
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  Speaker 1: if those conversation has been like, if you've had a
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  Speaker 1: chance to touch base with members of the community who
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  Speaker 1: are now just hoping, of course that there's something for
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  Speaker 1: them to salvage.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I've met with quite a few of the people
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  Speaker 3: here at the kamt Loops Ess Center. I've given them
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  Speaker 3: some reassurance. We provide daily updates on what we know,
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  Speaker 3: what we get back from BC wildfire, and what we
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  Speaker 3: get back from the regional district. We try to keep
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  Speaker 3: the information as factual as possible to lead out any
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  Speaker 3: of the rumor mills and get people more excited or
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  Speaker 3: the greater angst around the people.
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  Speaker 1: So to that end, what is the current situation in
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  Speaker 1: terms of damage specifically?
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  Speaker 2: Do you have an update on that?
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  Speaker 3: I can only speak to within the village boundaries. There
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  Speaker 3: is some structural damage south of Clinton, but in regards
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  Speaker 3: to the actual boundaries, know there aren't. My latest report
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  Speaker 3: is that there's no buildings or businesses that have been destroyed.
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  Speaker 3: Of course, with the hot embers and the little flare ups,
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  Speaker 3: there are a few structural buildings that are damage. But
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  Speaker 3: I think for the most part, as long as we
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  Speaker 3: have to wait for the entire assessment to come in
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  Speaker 3: before we can take a look and allow people back
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  Speaker 3: into town.
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  Speaker 1: You know you've been from the notes that I have here,
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  Speaker 1: I understand that you have been in the community of
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  Speaker 1: Clinton for more than forty years. How has the fire
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  Speaker 1: situation shifted over those decades.
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  Speaker 3: Well, this is our third rodeo. In two thousand and nine,
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  Speaker 3: we had an alert twenty seventeen, we had an evacuation,
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  Speaker 3: but the fire didn't come into town. In twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 3: the fire sort of did come into town. It's gone
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  Speaker 3: through our reservoir, it's gone through the watershed, so it's
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  Speaker 3: become more and more intense the whole time through all
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  Speaker 3: that period.
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  Speaker 1: When you make mention that it has gone through the
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  Speaker 1: reservoir and the water supply could be impacted there, what
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  Speaker 1: are some of the complications surrounding that, Well, there's.
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  Speaker 3: A boiled water alert at present. The implications coming down
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  Speaker 3: the road are going to be fairly serious, as it's
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  Speaker 3: going to take months to get things back up and
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  Speaker 3: running in that area. At this point, we don't need
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  Speaker 3: to bring in any water, but the upper reservoir was low,
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  Speaker 3: but not dangerously low, so we had to put in
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  Speaker 3: a bypass for structural fires.
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  Speaker 1: How much more difficult will it make this particular challenge,
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  Speaker 1: will it make it for families to head back to
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  Speaker 1: the community.
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be fairly challenging, But I don't think
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  Speaker 3: that things will ever be one hundred percent and perfect
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  Speaker 3: before you let people back in. I think for the
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  Speaker 3: most part, you just look at it and do the
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  Speaker 3: best you can work with what you have, and people
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  Speaker 3: have to have some kind of an understanding, and once
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  Speaker 3: people are allowed to come back in, we're going to
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  Speaker 3: have a public meeting just to tell people to keep
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  Speaker 3: people safe and calm and to deprieve people, answer any
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  Speaker 3: questions they have, and kind of go from there. That's
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  Speaker 3: all we can do with this particular time.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you've described for me some of the other
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  Speaker 1: situations that, of course the community has had to deal
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  Speaker 1: with when it comes to fire. When you look at
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  Speaker 1: the images that I know we have been sharing with
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  Speaker 1: our viewers and certainly everyone has been watching with the
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  Speaker 1: fire situation in the region, what goes through your mind?
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  Speaker 3: It's getting worse every year, and it's a challenge, but
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  Speaker 3: it's I guess it's just a part of living in
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  Speaker 3: where we are. Where we're not in a desert country,
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  Speaker 3: so we're kind of a logging industry, ranching big open areas.
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  Speaker 3: Things are constantly changing up there.
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  Speaker 2: What do you think needs to be done?
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  Speaker 1: If you say that it keeps getting worse, what do
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  Speaker 1: you think needs to be done in order to keep
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  Speaker 1: communities and people safe.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we're working quite closely with our community force, and
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  Speaker 3: we're we're opening the area up as best we can.
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  Speaker 3: We're trying to mitigate things so that it doesn't become
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  Speaker 3: a volatile situation. You're never going to cure the wildfires anyway,
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  Speaker 3: but all you can do is slow them down and
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  Speaker 3: keep people in touch, keep people informed, and just work
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  Speaker 3: your way through it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, mayors, thank you.
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  Speaker 1: I want to thank you so much for joining us today.
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  Speaker 1: We appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, well, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 1: That was the mayor of Clinton, the community in British Columbia, Rolands.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. We reached him in Kamloopspeci