As thousands fled during the B.C. wildfires, this man stayed — and found his home

This story is part of the World on Fire series, a five-part podcast that takes us to the front lines of out-of-control wildfires in Canada, Australia and California. Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, each episode examines what it takes to find hope in the midst of fear and destruction. Wildfires cost us our health, our homes and our communities, yet people everywhere rebuild and not just survive — but thrive. 

When the flames reached the valley on the Xatsull First Nation in the B.C. Interior, Kelly Sellars refused to leave.

And in that decision — to stay and save the community's homes — Sellars discovered a new appreciation for the community's people.

The flames arrived on a sweltering afternoon in July 2017. Forks of lightning danced across the sky above the Soda Creek reserve, igniting the tinder-dry forest while howling winds fanned the flames. 

"All of a sudden, it was really hot and dry and these dry clouds blew in," Sellars said, looking out over the forested ridges that flank his property near Williams Lake, B.C.

"It wasn't raining but the clouds were there and it started thundering. There were about four or five lighting strikes," Sellars recalled during an interview with CBC's World on Fire podcast.

"There was one that hit up on that mound, you can see where the trees are all burnt." 

It was just one of dozens of wildfires raging across British Columbia that summer, which had already seen more than 17,000 people displaced and 27,000 more placed on evacuation notice.

In total, more than  65,000 people were forced out of their homes and 1.2 million hectares burned in one of the worst fire seasons in B.C.'s history.

'I'm here to fight'

Intent on saving their community from burning down, Sellars and a small group of residents defied the evacuation order. 

The community had already told they would be on their own, Sellars said. Fire crews, already overwhelmed by blazes threatening communities across the province, would not have the capacity to save the remote reserve.

"'If you leave, you're not coming back,' they said. They said, 'You gotta go.' And I said, 'I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to fight for the community.'"

Even as RCMP insisted they get out, Sellars said he felt he had no choice but to stay. 

"I care about the people; I care about the land, the trees and the animals that are burning and we're going to stop it.

"We're here to fight the fire. This is our place." 

As families, young children and community elders fled, Sellars was among dozens of residents who stayed behind to stage a firefighting effort. 

They rigged up water tanks and hoses and sourced water from wherever they could. 

The thing that was there to destroy actually brought healing.- Kelly Sellars

They saved 11 homes from burning and prevented the fire from encroaching further into the community, Sellars said.

The effort forced them to work together, to rely on each other. Today, he's thankful for the adversity his community faced. 

In a surprising legacy, the fire gave the community a stronger bond than it had before and has helped heal fractured relationships between neighbours, he said. 

"Prior to the fire, there was a lot of discord," he said. "After the fire, I have a respect for the guys that I once looked down upon.

"The thing that was there to destroy actually brought healing to people's relationships." 

The fire also changed something deep within Sellars. It sparked a pride in, and a passion for, his community.

And it helped release the shame he had carried with him since childhood.

'Your eyes are opened' 

"It brought healing to my relationship and it brought me to a place where I love my people," Sellars said, his voice breaking. 

"Sometimes in life, when you're raised a certain way and society makes you feel that being Native is dirty, or that you're a second-rate citizen or people don't respect you because you're First Nation ... sometimes you may even feel ashamed and I'm sorry for that.

"But when your eyes are opened to who you really are and where God has placed you in this world and the people he has placed you with, it just changed how I felt about who I was and who I really loved."