Lake Country resident defies wildfire evacuation order to protect art collection

Brian Gervais says when officers arrived to tell him to evacuate his Lake Country home near Kelowna on Saturday he told them he wasn't leaving.

The 39-year-old's home was under an evacuation order because of a fast-moving wildfire but he refused to leave because he wanted to protect his art collection.

"They both shook my hand and they said, 'Best of luck to you. But if the fires get close you've got togo.,'" said Gervais.

Gervaissays he works as a representative forvisual artists, and because of thathe has a collection of what he calls priceless paintings and other artin his home.

"I'm representing art from people all over North America, and Ihave a duty to protect it," said Gervais.

The Lake Country fire that prompted the evacuation order destroyed eight homes and damaged dozens of others.

From the hill near Gervais' house, he said he could see large plumes of smoke and flames moving quickly.

"I watched that tree suddenly go up in flames -- it just looked like a giant red ball of inferno. It took like seconds and it was gone," said Gervais.

Not completely alone

The approaching flames were not the only threat he faced while alone in the community.

Gervaislives on a quietcul-de-sacin the municipality that is around 30 kilometres north ofKelowna.

He said by the time night fell, he was the only one left on his street.

Around 3 a.m. on Sunday he said he saw a truck drive onto his street without its lights turned on.

"The truck pulled in to the cul-de-sac and just sat in the dark," said Gervais.

Because police had blockaded the streets in his neighbourhood, Gervais said he becamesuspicious.

"I walked out, and as soon as they saw me, they just peeled around and took off," said Gervais, who believes he scared off potential looters.

"That to me was an indicator they weren't here for any good intentions."

The RCMPsaid they did not respond to any reports of looting in Lake Country this weekend, but that's not the case in other fire-affected regions.

At least10 people havebeen arrestedin connection with looting in 100 Mile House and Williams Lake.

Most recently, a 38-year-old man was arrested after the RCMP found a stash of $65,000 worth of heavy equipmentstolen from people who had evacuated their homes because of the wildfire.

The RCMPcontinue to patrol areas under an evacuation order.

Gervaissaid he understands why some are critical of his move not to follow an evacuation order, but stood by his decision.

"A lot of people think I was reckless by ... risking my life to stay for material things. But a lot of the things I was trying to protect were irreplaceable," said Gervais.

"And so to me they weren't just things, they were life's work."

The evacuation orderaffecting his property has since been lifted.