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When Erick Thompson decided he had to flee with his family as a wildfire roared towards Summerland, B.C., around 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, he also knew he had to keep filming.
That’s because Thompson is the senior manager of communications for the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, and his livestream videos on YouTube have connected thousands of anxious residents with the latest updates on the fire, evacuations and support.
The videos are raw and unfiltered, rolling as Thompson answers phone calls, talks to colleagues, tinkers with his computer and sometimes leaves his desk unattended.
Though he’s become a public face of the wildfire emergency for viewers — many thank him for his work on the livestream’s busy chat — Thompson says the story isn’t about him and he’s just doing his job.
The stream’s most dramatic moment came when Thompson left the emergency operations centre before resuming the video from his darkened vehicle after picking up his family to escape the fire.
He says the moment felt surreal, but he told the director of the district’s emergency operations centre that he felt he should continue livestreaming to encourage residents.
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“Just to show that, you know, I’m in the middle of this just like you are and we can be calm,” he said in an interview Sunday.
With ash raining down, Thompson said he packed and alerted his neighbours it was time to go.
Even as he drove into the night, he provided information to viewers, telling them of backed-up traffic as he and his family fled south.
Thompson said he thought only 30 or so people were watching at the time, but the next morning a friend in Halifax called to say she had seen the clip of him leaving his home.
“I said how did you know that? She said it was on the media,” he said. “And then I realized that that’s probably that dramatic video you see of somebody escaping a wildfire and I didn’t mean it to be that.”
Thompson said he doesn’t know how he feels about the moment’s unexpected virality.
He doesn’t want to be thought of as “doing anything special because I’m not,” he said.
“I’m doing this because it’s my job and I’m dedicated to getting out the most and best information I can,” he said.
He added that although he was affected by the evacuation order, he felt fortunate that his family is staying friends and that everybody’s safe.
The Bald Range fire has triggered a state of emergency in B.C., and forced 20,000 residents of the Okanagan region to evacuate.
One woman has been confirmed dead in the fire, which continues to burn out of control on the western shore of Okanagan Lake.
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