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“He had the rest of the task force going to different spots and we picked a spot close to the city so that we could have cell reception properly,” Roos said in an interview.
He would become a citizen while parked near Bear Creek.
Roos said he has been planning for years to become a citizen and the decision during the COVID-19 pandemic to move the process online made things simpler.
“The older you get, the more you feel that you’re tied to your community, your system, and you feel the importance of being part of it,” he said.
Roos’ story was shared by West Kelowna fire Chief Jason Brolund on Monday and federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller later posted a photo on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.
“People are asking me where he’s from and I don’t know,” Brolund said.
“What I do know is he’s going to be from Canada and that, it just gives me goosebumps to tell that story.”
Roos said he recognizes people’s desire for happier news in the midst of struggles, but he doesn’t want his story to overtake the tragedy of the situation.
More than 27,000 people have been forced from their homes by wildfires burning in the province.
Brolund has said as many as 90 structures in West Kelowna and the Westbank First Nation have been destroyed. There is no word yet on when it will be safe for people to go home.
“You’re fighting a fire, you’re doing your best to try to stop more fires from starting,” Roos said.
“But in the meantime, you see really clearly who all lost their everything — their memories, their passions, their everything. It’s intimidating.”
— by Ashley Joannou in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2023.
The Canadian Press
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