Merritt residents preparing to leave at a moment’s notice

MERRITT — Three major fires are headed in the direction of Merritt and residents are getting ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

“I could hear the wind blowing outside my door. I could smell it inside my house. You looked outside and saw red skies, it was quite scary,” Merritt resident Almerina Rizzardo told CFJC News.

The city remains on evacuation alert after Sunday (Aug. 15) night’s close call with the July Mountain fire raging in toward the Coquihalla — between Merritt and Hope — shutting it down.

The July Mountain wildfire has now merged with the Brook Creek wildfire, threatening the southwest side of the city.

To the west, the Lytton Creek wildfire has been burning east toward Merritt.

“It is terrifying, we have three major fires coming at our town right now,” another resident said, as she quickly shopped for last minute items in case of evacuation.

Merritt was originally a refuge for evacuees from other communities, but residents could need a place to stay of their own. Right now, evacuees are being sent to Chilliwack, but the mayor of Merritt hopes it doesn’t come to that point for her city.

“What we really need is the military. We need help in the TNRD. We need to have relief for the front-line firefighters. Everyone is burning out I’m hearing,” Linda Brown says.

Lower Nicola is on evacuation order as the Lytton Creek fire moves in closer. No one is getting in or out without authorization and the Lower Nicola Indian Band says it is doing everything in its power to make sure everyone gets out safely.

“It’s really important for us to try to do the best we can to ease some of the stress and the fear and the panic that’s in our community right now,” says Kukpi7 Stuart Jackson of the Lower Nicola Indian Band.

With Lower Nicola so close to home, Merritt residents are preparing to leave at a moment’s notice.

“You might not even have a home, so it just scares the poop [out of you],” says Tanya Porter, a Mammott Lake evacuee currently staying in Merritt.

A bit of rain on Monday gave the community a glint of hope, but there’s no telling if it will help.

“We have seen what has happened to Lytton and just how bad things could get. I can’t imagine something like that happening to our community,” Rizzardo adds.