Hopefully these Greetings come with the last major fire news update…

First the somewhat good news:
• Just been to the coast and back – only real smoke is down in the Fraser Valley from the Boston Bar fires…moreover, other than Hwy#1 in the Fraser Canyon being closed, all major routes are open (travelled the Coq both ways as it was clear with only a few evidences of the fire between Summerland & Peachland – no evidence on the Connector)
• On Friday, the snow ski crew held their annual picnic on the lake where we take a pontoon boat out for the afternoon – it had been postponed due to heavy smoke the previous week – this Friday, must improved air quality and there was considerable celebration
• in addition was able to cruise the west side of the lake to view the damages: much less than we thought as many lakeside homes were spared as were several vineyards (more is outlined below)
• rains came on the weekend and basically cleaned out the smoke so today was a bright, sunny day with sunshine unfiltered
• almost all the people have returned to their properties and in spite of all the earlier concerns, there were fewer homes & businesses hit than were destroyed in the North Okanagan fire of a month ago
• many of the fire crews from other BC communities are returning home (we saw a couple of fire trucks heading for the coast during the drives this weekend)
• problems from the ash in the area have been much less dramatic the last few days and dealt with either by vacuuming or spray washing

Now for the somewhat bad news:
• the fire continues, but in a less frantic fashion
• a high-end (above my pay grade) resort along the west side of Okanagan Lake has been reduced to rubble – the remains look eerily like the Sinclair castle near Wick, Scotland); ironically, the owners’ home across the highway was spared, though they watched their resort be eviserated
• tourism continues to be impacted significantly (Sun-Oka Beach was all but empty on Saturday): if you haven’t taken all your vacation time yet, do think about coming – I will even given you a free wine tour for one day (and get you a good deal on boat rentals too)
• pickers are back in the orchards so fruit is returning to the fruit stands but some significant losses have been noted, and a few vineyards have been decimated (final results will not be known for a while)

This is likely my last direct comment on the fire(s). If something significant comes my way in the days ahead, I will let you know….

In a continuing moment of reflection
g.w.