'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.
The City of Charlottetown is considering adding three apartment buildings along Mount Edward Road near the city’s bypass highway.
A new Alberta government pilot project is hoping to address a common challenge facing citizens accessing health care in a city that straddles two provinces.
The Victoria Police Department will have officers patrolling on foot for the first time since 2022, thanks to new funding from the city.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco has quietly extended its timeline by 22 years to phase out coal for "decarbonized" steelmaking, says a federal government document, aiming for 2050 instead of 2028.
In a week where President Donald Trump says the U.S. doesn’t need cars made in Canada, the Dodge Charger Sixpack — made in Windsor, Ont. — is in the running to win car of the year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this morning.
An Ontario man has reached a settlement agreement with Boeing almost seven years after six of his family members died in a plane crash.
Severe weather has lead to several highway closures across northern Ontario Wednesday morning.
Several Durham police officers diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) say they believe the service isolated them from the day they went on mental health leave and has not provided them any meaningful support.
The City of Toronto’s 2026 budget offers relief many homeowners were looking for in its property tax increase, but it also lays bare the massive amount of infrastructure work hanging over the city in the coming years which, in some cases, may be deferred.
The University of Guelph says it is offering assistance to help students stranded in Iran after a petition was started asking for more to be done by the school.
There may be some relief in sight this flu season — though it may not feel like it right now.
Students will be back in class on Wednesday morning at Robert Service School in Dawson City.
The Canadian Armed Forces would need to buy 72 Gripen fighter jets and six GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for Swedish manufacturer Saab to deliver on its pledge of creating 12,600 jobs in Canada, CBC News has learned.