The West Kelowna wildfire has impacted many residents like Tyler Balaban and his family, which includes his wife, toddler, and three-week-old baby.
Daily Hive connected with Balaban about his experience and the emotions of evacuating their dream home near McKinley Beach on Thursday evening, not knowing if there would be one to return to.
“We were watching the fire across the way in West Kelowna,” Balaban said.
“We could see the top of the ridge line and the trees were candle-sticking.”
Balaban explained that candle sticking is when a tree doesn’t catch on fire, but the heat is so intense it causes the trees to “more or less explode from a distance with flames busting as high as 300 ft in the air.”
“At about 8:30 pm, we looked at the Ridgeline and then a ton of black smoke sat over the lake for about 10 [minutes].”
It’s going to be a long night. #kelownafire. Hoping to have a home standing tomorrow. #mckinleybeach
Trying to figure out how big the fires
Are that have hopped.— Tyler (@tylerbalaban) August 18, 2023
Things took a horrifying turn not soon after that.
“When we looked back and the smoke had lifted, it looked like the whole lakeside was a melting volcano. At that exact point, I saw the fear of God in my wife’s eyes, and she said we need to get out of here.”
The emotional weight of the experience understandably sounded like a lot to bear.
“As we drove away, emotions were a bit paused due to shock. As we drove up the hill, I had to stop and take a few pictures as I was just grasped in awe by the amount of power of strength of nature.”
He added that it was surreal and something he didn’t want to look away from. By 11 pm, the family had made it to Vernon, where they felt safe, “at least for the night.”
The following day, the family was hit by another startling potential reality.
“At 8:30 am, the WiFi to our house went off, and I thought, ‘That’s it, the house is toast.'”
There was no time to pack anything. “We just grabbed the baby seat and got the toddler into the cars as fast as we could.”
From treelike burn to 10 mins later, the fastest spread I’ve ever seen for a fire.
Shortly after it hopped the lake. Currently burning in Clifton, McKinley and Lakestone.
Some roads are being blocked to Vernon, go south to west Kelowna
Kelowna airport now shut down#kelowna pic.twitter.com/cYFoSgkq2C
— Tyler (@tylerbalaban) August 18, 2023
“Driving back from Vernon to Penticton, we had to take [Highway] 97 as the route we came for was closed off. It looked like Armageddon.”
The filter in his car didn’t do the family any favours.
“My car filter, even with it set to internal circulation, filled my car up with smoke, and I had a nice pounding headache on the way to Penticton.”
Thankfully, their three-week-old baby managed great, but the toddler knew something was wrong.
“She is a bit confused right now, but we’re all rocking about 36 hours of no sleep.”
Regarding their home, Balaban is worried they may lose it.
“We lived in that home for nine months,” Balaban recalled.
“I designed our dream home and the build finished nine months longer than anticipated due to the joys of COVID.”
The family is crossing their fingers and hoping for the best as they recover from the West Kelowna wildfire, waiting to see what’s next.
“Most important is that we’re safe and can say that everyone has been quite responsible in informing what’s going on through Twitter, Facebook groups, and the news.”
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