'A ghost town': Sask. baseball coach recalls trip to Kelowna at height of wildfire evacuations

It was a tumultuous trip to B.C. for the Lumsden Cubs. The 15U team travelled to Kelowna at the height of the McDougall Creek wildfire and were left stranded after flights were suspended in the area.

“A bunch of us flew there as well so we couldn’t get flights out,” coach Riley Ruhr told CTV News.

“We tried to rent cars. We couldn’t get one way rentals out.”

After playing a mere five and a half innings on Aug. 18 – the winds shifted and the AA Western Canadian Baseball Championships were cancelled.

Ruhr said the team made the best of a bad situation.

“[The boys] were disappointed but I told them that there were people out there losing $10 - $20 million houses in Kelowna,” he said.

“So, us not being able to play in a baseball tournament is secondary to what’s actually going with the city and even if they’re disappointed we tried to make the best of our time there.”

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Taking in some beach time and zip lining was just some activities for the team.

However, Ruhr said it was an odd sight in Kelowna. Smoke filled, empty and very quiet.

“I’ve been to Kelowna in the summer and it’s packed everywhere. The beaches are packed, the streets are busy. There was nobody,” he said.

“It was like you were in a ghost town. We were the only ones on the main beach there.”

Shots from the Lumsden Cubs game on Aug. 18. The top image shows the first inning while the bottom image shows the fifth inning after smoke rolled in. (Courtesy: Riley Ruhr)

The team was already on edge as soon as they arrived. Watching the flames from the McDougall Creek fire approach from across Lake Okanagan.

“It was an eerie feeling,” Ruhr said.

“We sat by our pool at the condo and just watched across the lake on Thursday night and saw the flames and how big it got.”

Flames from the McDougall Creek fire, seen across Okanagan Lake in Kelowna on Aug. 18, 2023. (Courtesy: Riley Ruhr)

Kelowna’s airport eventually reopened and Ruhr was on the first flight to Calgary –where he picked up a vehicle and drove – getting back to Saskatchewan on the 22nd.

Recounting his trip – he said the team is thinking of those left to deal with the damage in B.C.

“Thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected out there in Kelowna.”