Okanagan rancher recounts how the Bradley Creek blaze razed her home in minutes

Rancher Devyn McMillan, who survived the 2021 White Rock Lake fire, was in the Yukon when the Bradley Creek wildfire erupted on Friday night and raced up her Okanagan property. A sudden wind change gave her family only five minutes to flee, leaving her six-year-old daughter without time to put on shoes. From a distance, McMillan directed her family and ranch hand on how to handle their livestock; trailers could not be used, so the 13 horses were set loose and found refuge in an arena, while one horse unexpectedly sought shelter at her grandmother’s house.

Although emergency responders initially believed her pig Jellybean perished, the animal was later found alive, though burned and dehydrated. The fire also destroyed a shop, a trailer and a logging truck on the ranch. Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band reported that the blaze has already destroyed at least 200 homes, describing the scene as a war zone.