Pioneer Log Homes remain onsite continuing to work to protect their two remaining work sites.
Byran Reid Sr. is the owner.
“It’s mostly a skeleton crew. Most of the guys are young-they have young families so they had to evacuated and they live in a lot of the surrounding areas. They live at the 150 and Spring House and that so it’s mostly what we would call ‘over the hill’ here managing the pumps, managing the sprinklers, managing the trucks.”
Reid says they had went to the Fire Centre at the Airport and got permission to stay to protect their assets.
He says they have to wait now until insurance adjusters can come back to complete an assessment on the damage at their 153 Mile site which was destroyed by wildfire before they can figure out how to put it back into production.
Earlier this week Pioneer Log Homes donated two fire trucks to the 150 Mile House Volunteer Fire Department which Reid says took about 10 days to make it happen.
“Fire departments from all over BC are here and Abbotsford Fire Department happened to be one of the ones that’s here at 150 Mile House. They stopped by our site to see if everything was ok and if we needed anything, and in the conversation, it came up that the fire trucks were for sale. One was here already and one was on the way so they delivered them.”
As for how much the two fire trucks cost, Reid says they’ll keep it secret although he says Fire Chief Stan McCarthy told him if they were to replace them it would be over a million dollars.
“These guys are working so hard and they’re working really with limited resources. They have a huge area, they have a lot of homes they have to protect, a lot of structures, ranches. So you know you can’t do a good job without tools. I know that from my business so I thought well let’s make it right for them, let’s get them the proper tools, and they can get the job handled even better.”
“Some of these rural fire departments truly I have to say that I didn’t think they really had any substance. They’re really doing a job protecting the whole area around Williams Lake, they’re really the ones on the front lines that are out protecting structures that are in danger so my hats off to them.”
“It changed my out look on rural fire departments 180 degrees.”