Smoke rises from the west flank of the Parker Lake Wildfire, which prompted an evacuation order and BC Emergency Alert for the town of Fort Nelson and Fort Nelson First Nation, near Parker Lake, B.C., on May 13.BC Wildfire Service/Reuters
Some wildfire evacuees in B.C. are being asked to leave their hotel rooms to make way for prebooked guests as local establishments struggle to balance the urgent needs of those forced from their homes with the necessity of running a business.
Some 4,700 people were ordered evacuated a little more than a week ago near Fort Nelson, B.C., because of a fast-moving wildfire. Provincial officials said Friday that although cooler temperatures and rain have helped, it’s still too soon to estimate when people can return home.
In Alberta, more than 6,000 residents from four neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray were ordered out earlier last week but officials said Saturday that they can return home.
Hotels are reimbursed by provincial governments to provide temporary shelter for people who don’t have the option to stay with family or friends outside the fire zones. That means a juggling act for front desks and continuing stress for evacuees.
Cheyenne Seely and her fiancé, Dillon McCann, fled Fort Nelson late on the night of May 10. They phoned a hotel in Fort St. John on their way to the town to ensure they’d have a room that could accommodate them and their pets – a litter of rabbits, three cats, and one dog.
Ms. Seely said she understood they’d have the room for four days, but on May 13, hotel staff told Ms. Seely that she and her partner and their pets would have to vacate their room the following morning because it was reserved for another customer.
“It took everything I had not to completely break down,” she said.
Luckily, Ms. Seely and Mr. McCann brought camping equipment with them to use in the event that they couldn’t find a place to stay. The two and their animals are now camping at a site in Fort St. John. They elected not to ask B.C.’s Emergency Support Services (ESS) to find them another hotel room.
“We did not want to risk the chance of getting kicked out of a hotel again,” she said. “I cannot handle not knowing if we’re going to have a place to sleep.”
ESS is the provincial program in charge of supporting evacuees. These supports, provided at the local level and often involving volunteers from nearby communities, include co-ordinating and paying for hotel rooms for evacuees, as well as arranging food and transportation.
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Kathleen Connolly is the general manager of the George Dawson Inn in Dawson Creek, a town 75 kilometres southeast of Fort St. John. She got a call on the evening of May 10 from ESS that evacuees from the Parker Lake wildfire needed a place to stay.
Ms. Connolly said she’s been transparent with ESS about how many people she can accommodate and for how long. Evacuees and ESS know what day they have to leave so that other arrangements can be made.
The George Dawson Inn usually accommodates three rooms that are pet friendly, but Ms. Connolly said she is now offering 13. She explained that, as a dog owner herself, she understands the stress of this situation.
“People are tired and they’re worried,” said Ms. Connolly, adding that she’s been working hard to ensure evacuees feel as comfortable as possible.
A spokesperson for the B.C. Hotel Association was not available to comment.
Alberta hotels working to accommodate Fort Mac evacuees are facing similar issues. Tracey Douglas-Blowers, President and CEO of the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), says that her organization has been working closely to help evacuees and hotels are doing their best to find alternate accommodations for evacuees if overlapping bookings occur.
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The B.C. Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness acknowledges the “frustrations” that some evacuees have faced when asked to leave their hotels. It said in a statement that anyone without a place to stay can visit their local ESS reception centre to find accommodation.
The ESS program has seen improvements since the start of the decade, said the statement, such as a digital registration system introduced in 2020 and streamlined training for responders introduced earlier this year.
Fort Nelson Mayor Rob Fraser said he urges his residents to stay patient with ESS and hotel staff as they work to co-ordinate rooms and bookings.
He said he understands that hotels can’t give up prior bookings for evacuees.
“When you drop 3,500 people into a small area, it’s a shock,” he said. “It’s great from a business perspective, but they still have all the regular clients that they have to accommodate.”
Mr. Fraser said ESS responders, volunteers and neighbouring community members have done “fantastic” work during this crisis.
Evacuees will “have some frustrations and we’ll have some frustrations, but together we can work it out,” he said.