National Network for Equitable Library Service

In the summer of 2017, wildfires dominated the headlines in British Columbia. As a low pressure weather system continued to cause lightning strikes, starting new fires, strong winds fanned the existing ones. Over two hundred fires burned in the province and nearly ten thousand people in or around the towns of 100 Mile House, Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Princeton, and Williams Lake received the instruction—you must evacuate now. But not everyone left. Captured by Fire alternates between the dramatic first-person accounts of wilderness dweller Chris Czajkowski and homesteader Fred Reid—who both ignored the evacuation order and stayed to protect their properties, animals, and livelihoods. Living in a remote area, they knew that their homes would be of low priority to officials when firefighting resources were deployed. Over the course of the summer, as alerts fluctuated and even the firefighters pulled out, both had to decide—when is it time to go?