‘Absolutely gutted:’ P.A. Royals trying to get home after Kelowna wildfire cancels tournament

By Logan Lehmann

Jason Van Otterloo and his 13U Prince Albert Royals team were ready to make some noise at the AA Western Canadian Baseball Championships in Kelowna this weekend.

The team was five innings into its first game at the tournament on Friday morning when things quickly started to go from bad to worse.

“If I was to use a word, ‘gutted’ would be the word,” said Van Otterloo.

“We got four complete innings in before the wind changed and the smoke became too much. B.C.’s baseball regulations took us off the field, and they subsequently suspended our afternoon and evening games because they didn’t know if (the tournament) was going to go on. At four o’clock, the decision was made to cancel the tournament.”

The McDougall Creek fire has been rampaging through the Central Okanagan over the past few days, destroying a significant number of properties while forcing around 30,000 people to evacuate their homes.

The tournament was playing host to 13 teams across three age groups from Western Canada, most of whom travelled by plane to get there. But since the airport closed to help assist water bombers with firefighting efforts, Van Otterloo said it’s a nightmare trying to get out of the city.

“There’s no panic, like we’re not worried about the fire actually reaching us and I’m not fearful for my life, but the situation to get out is definitely stressful right now,” he said.

He added his players and their families were left to figure out their own ways out of Kelowna, with some travelling north towards Vernon and others going south towards the U.S. border.

Having travelled all that way and barely getting the tournament started, Van Otterloo said telling the kids the championships were cancelled was one of the toughest things he’s had to do.

“I’ve done difficult things in my life, but it’s hard when you’re disappointing the kids in this way because it’s so out of our control,” he explained.

“It’s hard to lose a baseball tournament after seeing the competition. Man, we had a really good chance of walking out of here as champions. But on the same foot, knowing that one of the Kelowna coaches lost his house before we played baseball Friday morning was pretty tough. (It) put it all in perspective.”

On Sunday, it was reported that no new evacuation orders were issued overnight, but 36,000 people still remain on evacuation alert. On Saturday, the BC government announced an emergency travel ban to fire zones in the province in an effort to free up accommodation for evacuees.

– With files from The Canadian Press