Lower Nicola working to support community during evacuation

The Lower Nicola Indian Band issued an evacuation order on Sunday night as the Lytton Fire threatened their community.

A large number of residents evacuated the area, however several decided to remain in their homes. Chief Stu Jackson tells Q101 News the band is working to understand where everybody is.

“It’s very important to know where all our members are. Our support systems for the band is working diligently with all our members, whether they are at home or have been uprooted,” said Jackson. “We have a good team working hard to track as many of our band members as possible.”

Lower Nicola members are being encouraged to contact ESS services or the Band directly if they haven’t yet to confirm that they’re safe.

“Our fire department is doing an incredible job in the community and on the fire line,” added Jackson.

“I was up on the fire line yesterday. The comfort levels aren’t very high right now, we don’t know what mother nature is going to do. We are going to try an initiate a plan to do what we can with the fire itself, and also just keep in mind we want to keep everybody safe,” said Jackson. “We’re doing our best and we have a great team. At the end of the day we’re hoping that mother nature is going to cooperate with us a little bit so that we can bring everybody back home.”

The Band has some group lodging available for their members, while others are spread out throughout the region.