'Trying to save what we've worked so hard for': Loon Lake fire causes devastation

A policeofficer gaveKarlaHeinjust 10 minutes to grab whatever she couldbefore police escortedher familyfromtheir propertyin B.C.'s Loon Lake area on Friday. A nearby wildfire was creeping closer to their home and they had to leave.

For the last 50 years, the Heinshave raised show horses on their farm in therural-recreation area of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.

"I had to leave some animals behind," saidHein, crying as she talkedabout her belovedbarn cats she couldn't save.The catswere outsidewhenHeinand her mother were evacuated Friday.

"We just threw whatever we could," she said.

An evacuation order was issued Friday night for 376 homes in the Loon Lake area as flames from the nearby Ashcroftfire closedin.

Heinwas ableto leave andsave the family's showhorses. They'resafe at a friend's farm near Kamloops, but the animals are skittish,agitatedand have inhaled a lot of smoke.

One of thehorsesis pregnant and there are fears she might lose her foal. Another horse has a nasty gouge on her shoulder.

Her uncle and brother-in-law werestill in the Loon Lake area Saturday,trying to save the property.

"We're trying to save what we've worked so hard for," she said in an interview at her friend's Kamloopsfarm.

"My mom has been doing this [raising show horses] for 50 years and everything could be gone," she said.

Hein's mother, Marion Szepat-Tait, said the shock is wearing off and anger is settling in.

Heinisgrateful to her friend,Kelly Kennedy,who risked her lifeon Friday night to to help takethe horses to safety.

Kennedy drove from her farm just outside Kamloopsto help save Hein's animals.

Equipped with three trailers,shedrove to Hein'sLoon Lakefarm, grabbed as many animals as possibleand droveback to Kamloops. Kennedy, Hein and her mother left under police escort.

"We could see it was getting worse," Heinsaid. The RCMPconstable who came to escort Heinfrom her property asked if she had masks. She did not.

"Things are going to get rough," the officer told her.

He was right:Kennedy and Heinwatched as homes burned before theireyes. Flames painted the sky red.

"We saw the homes on fire, it was just a wall of heat," said Kennedy.

"It was super, superhot, but the smoke was the worst part of it," she said, still coughing on Saturday morning from the smoke she had inhaled the night before.

With ashes clouding theirvisibility and flames licking the sides of their trailer,Kennedy and about twenty other residents managed to escape, but saw other homes burn to the ground.

"Itwas totally devastating to watch," she said.

Wyatt Deeter, who lives in Kamloops and is not an evacuee, came by to pet hishorse.

Evacuees cooled off under the hot summer sun across the farm.

Eight families along with their horses, dogs, chickens and pigsare now atKennedy's farm, that'sjust three kilometres from the Kamloops airport. All those families, including Hein, are fire evacuees.

Kennedy has been responsible for saving many of those animals.

"Without Kelly, Iwouldn't know where Iwould be. She is an amazing lady and has a heart of gold," said Hein.

A pop-up evacuation centre at a hotel in Kamloops put aside crates of water, animal feed, buckets and clothesfor Kennedy to pick-up to take back to the evacueesat thefarm.

"It's justeverybody is willing to do something andthat'swhat happens at a time, when a crisis hits," said Kennedy.

She isn't done saving animals. On,Saturdayshe fought through red smoky skies to retrieve more stranded horses in Clinton, north of Cache Creek.

An evacuation order for east of Clinton was issued on Saturday at 10:30 p.m.

Kennedy has been on the move saving animalssince Saturday, and doesn't plan on slowing down.