Information Briefing for the Bush Creek East wildfire K21633 | August 22, 2023 at 2:00 PM 

Can we get a huge thank you for all the incredible work our emergency response teams are doing across BC!

Specifically Celista. There has been no FSW in the area since they withdrew Friday afternoon. A very small VOLUNTEER fire department and handful of dedicated locals are the only fire fighters there. They don't want to be there .They'd rather be safe and out of harms way with their families. If there was any sign of IA crews in the community the locals would leave.

Terrible communication and utilization/ coordination of local resources. You back-burned your own camp out and created literal fire tornados . We knew at 8am the wind was coming up. You pushed the fire right into those north shore communities. You are stopping local resources from assisting with helping to save their homes when you don’t have the capacity to be there yourselves. We are willing and capable people that want to save our homes and businesses. Please stop treating us like criminals and children and engage us to work together. We aren’t asking for your help, we’re asking to help you.

Thank you very much for the update, we have a summer home in Sorrento and have been desperate for information. Our neighbours are great and we are very concerned for them and their property. PS we live in Prince George

All they had to do was coordinate with civilian effort. If it was not for all those private boats ferrying people out the death toll wouldnt have been zero. I watched it go down first hand and can assure everyone of that. They did your job when you didnt have a plan to get that many people out without a road. The evac orders should have come KNOWING the winds would cause a firestorm. You claim to be experts but didnt see that coming? Really?? These agencies do NOT coopreate until there is a budget they can manage. Free help.... no thanks .. cant skim that or use those numbers to raise taxes.

I am so sad to hear Derek make such inaccurate comments about there being enough Forestry crews on the ground. The fact is that there are areas in Celista and Magna Bay for sure and possibly others that have no crews on them at all and the locals are getting no help at all. If the locals did not work the hotspots in these areas the fire would have advanced to more homes already. If there are resources waiting to go in please send them so our locals can come out. Please go in and see for yourself. I know you are trying hard but there is no where near enough crews on this. People can not be assured that there are people there to protect their structures because there aren't in many cases and the hotspots are still flaring up near homes. The locals can not be creating an unsafe environment for crews that are not there so please stop blocking them from food, water and gas while they are saving the homes you have not been able to get crews on. No one is asking you to provide supplies, you are being asked to stop blocking access to supplies. The way to get the locals out is to replace them with crews. It is very very simple. You say you want to collaborate but you are not hearing what you are being told the reality is. Collaborating does not mean dictating. Listen and then make a plan, that will build the trust that you are asking for. You can make this better.

Thank you for briefing us… I had called this in on monday already, I had also contacted the mayor of tappen today, re how we are standing and mayor of salmon arm the night before . would have been nice to know this was on live because I have some questions also. I dont understand how there were not constant water bombers attending this fire in the beginning to just get it under control.. and along with that why no fire retardant was put out in possible growth areas as a preventative measure, when i was in swansea point before the fire got huge they attacked it with water bombers helicopters and fire retardant non stop for 7 days until it was out .. i felt like i was in vietnam, but i was so thankful to see the non stop effort until it was out. Get a handle on it fight it before the smoke hinders and lives are at risk and if you dont have enough man power then call in the federal help.. report the efforts to the news also so that people are not in the dark have a media liason to help the public feel more safe and then you would have the information out that you want out and social media would not be able to have the power to misinform because you are handling it.

We would have lost so much more if we didn't have the locals. Please I pray, no more playing with fire to fight the fire, water only 🙏

This is a fantastic opportunity for a 15-minute city in Kamloops tides the people out by fighting fire with fire herd them all down to Kamloops, tell the people its climate change. Just like Trudeau said covid was a great opportunity

Lol so the calendar boy firefighters are fighting fire by lighting fire. The whole world isn't stupid.

And they knew that winds were coming!

How many people are in a "unit crew"? Might need a few more of those to effectively help the area. A few hundred...doesn't seem to be nearly enough based on the spot fires and activity.

I forgive you all for putting my life in life threatening circumstances 🙏

No coincidence at all for ignition and massive fire growth