A Vancouver Island artist who was evacuated from her home studio near an out-of-control wildfire says she remains nervous despite being allowed back this week.
Ina-Griet Raatz-von Hirschhausen, whose home is a few kilometres from the Wesley Ridge wildfire near Cameron Lake, says she is waiting a bit longer to bring back half of her art collection, which was taken to a friend’s home when her family was told to evacuate late Sunday.
She left with her husband and two cats, and says she thought her home was lost as soon as the evacuation notice was issued, calling it “the very worst moment of the whole thing.”
The BC Wildfire Service says in its latest update that fire had minimal growth overnight, and firefighting teams, including those from as far away as the Okanagan, are prioritizing containment and the protection of nearby homes.
The update says the fire intensity may change through the weekend, as higher temperatures are in the forecast.
Recent cool and wet weather across British Columbia has helped push down the number of active fires in the province to just over 100, with more than 160 blazes declared out in the last week.
The BC Wildfire Service says firefighters are expecting more smoke in the area near the Wesley Ridge fire as it burns through forest fuels nearby.
Hundreds of properties were evacuated due to the fire, and while some have been allowed to return home, 300 addresses remain under order and more than 350 are on alert.
Raatz-von Hirschhausen says firefighters have told her there have been no structures lost due to the fire, describing the crews as doing “wonders” in protecting homes even closer to the fire than hers.
“It’s a highly emotional experience, and I actually wish that nobody every needs to evacuate,” she says.
She says she was at an arts show when she called her husband at home on Sunday to check on the fire status.
“He said, ‘It’s OK, we’re still on alert,’ and I drove up and, I think this was one of the worst moments, when I saw police officers standing at the corner to our road,” Raatz-von Hirschhausen says.
“I still assumed everything will be all right,” she says. “And (an officer) asked me for my address and then he said, ‘Yeah, you can go in and just grab your stuff.’ And that was really, really a bad moment.”
They stayed with friends before being allowed back home, and she says she assumed her house was lost to the fire the entire time.
Some of that feeling still lingers, partly because half of her artwork — accumulated over the last 20 years — that could not be moved during the evacuation could still be lost if the fire overtook the house, she says.
“I need my studio,” Raatz-von Hirschhausen says, adding the days she was evacuated were among the worst she’s experienced.
“I need to make something creative every day; otherwise, I get super nervous,” she says. “And I couldn’t do anything. And yeah, so to me it was really not nice.
“I still notice it now. And I would assume it might take a little while until all of that gets out of the system.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2025.
Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press
