Island woman helping people in B.C. who have been displaced by wildfires

The sky outside Rachel Cook'sPrince George, B.C., home is choked with smoke.

The Charlottetown nativeis volunteering at shelters to help people displaced by the province's wildfires, as she and other people in the northern B.C. city cast a wary eye on the burning forests and the weather forecast.

• B.C. wildfires: frequently asked questions

"I don't think I've seen the sun here for a few days now," she told CBC's Island Morning. "It's just been thick, very thick smoke. And you can smell it. It's pretty overwhelming at times, and that's been a constant for days."

As of Wednesday, more than 14,000 people hadbeen displaced by wildfires from Princeton in the south to Quesnel in central B.C.

'Help as we can when we can'

Cook said many of those evacuees have been arriving in the city.

"We don't really know from one hour to the next what's going on with the other communities, so we've all been trying to help as we can when we can," Cooktold Matt Rainnie.

"On an individual basis, there's been a lot of citizens with Prince George who have opened up their homes, their yards, lots of people have been coming with horsesso our agriplex in town has opened up to taking in livestock, and then we've got evacuation shelters here in PrinceGeorge."

There have also been free lunches and dinners on offer throughout town, she said.

Fires multiplied quickly

Cook saidforest fires are fairlycommon in the province, so at first many people didn't pay much attention.

"We have a lot of forest in BritishColumbia... but then it would jump from half a dozen fires to 50 fires and then to 100 fire and then the last time I heard on the news it was in excess of 180 fires, and it's just been confusion with all of that, people trying to figure out which way to go."

Cook says while the fires haven't reached Prince George, residents are on pre-evacuation alert. The city is encouraging people to have emergency kits ready just in case they need to leave.

The fires are having a strong indirect impact on the city, both because people are focused on helping the displaced and because the closure of roads in the province mean the city's gasoline and grocery supplies are affected.

"We need to have some pretty heavy rains for probably a few days in order to help our firefighters be able to get a hold on some of the major ones."

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