SPCA briefly evacuated due to brush fire

All of the animals and staff with the East Kootenay SPCA are safe and normal operations have resumed after a brush fire prompted a brief evacuation.

Branch Manager Angela Mather said the fire was spotted early Wednesday afternoon.

“One of our colleagues here was coming back from a vet visit and saw some smoke. They walked into the bush a little bit and saw some flames,” said Mather.

“Luckily the lady that pulled over in front of them was an un-uniformed police officer, so she called it in right away.”

The fire broke out within 500 metres of the SPCA building, between the shelter and the highway.

“I ran outside and I smelled the fire and saw the smoke. The police lady came up and told us we needed to get out immediately,” explained Mather.

“We packed up all the animals – four dogs, six cats and one rabbit – and we met at our muster station in the Lordco parking lot.”

Mather said the SPCA has a solid emergency plan in place and they contacted volunteers in case foster homes were needed while the building was evacuated.

“Just in case we couldn’t get back in the building, we already started working on a plan of housing the animals,” said Mather.

“Everyone rallied and a lot of our volunteers came right away. It all worked out really well.”

By the end of the day, the animals were back in the shelter and normal operations had resumed.

“The emergency services got there in a flash and got control of it quickly, so it didn’t spread that far,” said Mather.

“We were back in time to give everyone their supper at the time they ordinarily get fed. The day ended just like a normal day.”

According to the BC Wildfire Service, the fire grew to about 0.2 hectares and is now under control.