Driving his boat around the edges of Weyakwin Lake, Doug Hrycuik said he feels very lucky that there wasn’t a slight wind shift because it would have taken out the little cottage community he calls home.
Hrycuik’s primary residence is on Ramsey Bay looking over the waters of Weyakwin Lake.
“Looking out on the Bay here… it burned right up to the Welcome to Ramsey Bay line where they put a cut line to stop the fire,” Hrycuik explained.
He said the local fire crews and ones from other regions fought a long, hard battle against the flames.
“The east side of the lake here, the fire started way past the far end, about 20 kilometres away and came all the way down the east side of the lake , it burnt past and went south,” Hrycuik said pointing from his boat.
“It’s hard to explain how many times it went back and forth… It went back and forth for a week… It’s incredible.”
He said when the flames came rolling in, a fire fighting crew stayed behind and lived in the village to save it.
“They saved us, there is no other way to say it, we live in a bubble,” he said. “It’s amazing.”
Hrycuik said it appears that the fire burnt 90 per cent of the shore line, but the area right near the community remained green.
“There were a few people who stayed back stood on the dock and heard the roar of the fire,” he said.
“The support that we’ve had from local fire guys… it’s incredible.”
kmalone@rawlco.com
Follow on Twitter: @KellyGerMalone