For most NHLers, the summer provides a chance to relax and regroup away from the stress and grind of the regular season. For Tyler Myers, however, his offseason was disrupted by a force that has affected so many other B.C. residents this summer: wildfires.
Myers and his family make their offseason home in Kelowna, where the McDougall Creek Wildfire destroyed multiple homes and damaged hundreds of other homes and structures. Evacuation orders saw hundreds of families flee their homes, including Myers, who spoke to reporters after an informal Canucks practice on Tuesday.
"Grab the kids, get out of there," said Myers about the rush to get out of Kelowna when the order came. "The whole family got together, we were crashing all in one room."
While Myers has seen other wildfires near Kelowna in his time there, he called this one "a different level." The wildfire, though moving away from West Kelowna, is still classified as "out of control," with limited rainfall to help control the blaze. Over 20,000 properties are still on evacuation alert in the area.
"It was pretty crazy. We had a view of it the night it hit and I didn't have any knowledge about how fast it could spread," said Myers. "It was sad. It's still going on, a lot of people still affected. The firefighters and the emergency responders were pretty amazing and they're still doing a lot of work."
Myers and his family were among the fortunate ones who were able to return to their home.
"The house is all good. We got back and a lot of debris and ash everywhere, as I'm sure there was around the whole city. It was scary for sure," said Myers. "You feel for all the people that were really affected, losing their homes. But you see a lot of the community support from everyone around, so it was great to see that.
"Hopefully, [the community] can recover as fast as possible."
