'Like a nuclear bomb went off': B.C. musician raced to beat Hwy 20 closure as wildfire closed in
CBC
Summer road trips have always been a blast for Sean Scallion and his family, but their 300-kilometre journey from Bella Coola to Quesnel, B.C., this weekend turned out to be one of their most unforgettable and nerve-wracking adventures.
Scallion, his wife, and their 13-year-old son were driving when they came across what the B.C. Wildfire Service described as an "aggressive" fire.
The fire had erupted on Saturday evening and had quickly grown to 22 square kilometres, cutting off Highway 20, the only major route connecting Bella Coola to the rest of B.C.
Scallion, who is the drummer in a three-person north Cariboo musical band called Interstellar Jays, said they left Bella Coola on B.C.'s Central Coast around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, just an hour after finishing their performance at the Bella Coola Music Festival.
They hurriedly said goodbye to the other two band members, who decided to stay in Bella Coola and left as soon as they learned the fire was rapidly approaching the road.
Despite the challenging circumstances, they managed to make it home to Quesnel, about 120 kilometres south of Prince George, safely on Sunday night.
Scallion made the critical decision to keep driving along the highway, maneuvering past the section impacted by the fire before it was closed in both directions later that afternoon, leaving no detours available.
Recalling the harrowing experience, Scallion described how they had to navigate a steep hill along the highway, getting up close to the raging fire around 3 p.m. Sunday.
"[About] 1,300 metres in elevation from the bottom to the top — crazy switchbacks and gravel road," he told guest host Brady Strachan on CBC's Radio West.
"As we were driving up it, we turned a certain bend and then just saw this huge plume, [with] white smoke on top and gray in the middle and then orangish hue at the bottom, and we're like, 'Oh wow, that's really close and looked like we were driving right into it.'"
"It was pretty wild … it looked like a nuclear bomb went off."
He remembered seeing other drivers stopping to take photos of the fire, but his main focus was to reach his son's birthday party scheduled for Monday afternoon, so they pressed on without turning back despite the danger.
Thankfully, his instincts proved right.
"Being a father and husband [with] my family in the car, I think we should keep going just in case we can't go any further.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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