Stay or flee: the decisions First Nations people are making in the face of B.C. wildfires – CBC

Aug 23, 2023

‘I never ever thought that I would be disobeying an order’

Sheri Lysons never thought she would disobey an evacuation order, but she’s still at her home on Adams Lake Indian Band lands in the B.C. Interior.

She watches the lakes, looking to see signs the nearby Bush Creek East wildfire is coming closer.

“I know the implications of [not evacuating],” said Lysons, a former fire chief of the Adams Lake Indian Band.

“But we couldn’t leave; I couldn’t leave my home.”

Lysons has more than 20 years experience as a volunteer firefighter, and her partner has more than 30 years experience in wildland firefighting.

Though Lysons and her partner know the risks of staying to defend their home, Lysons wasn’t taking any chances with her daughter, moving her to Salmon Arm, B.C., even before the evacuation order came down.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/stay-or-flee-first-nations-wildfires-bc-1.6945470