Ice cream for all: Lake Country showers emergency crews with eats

While there’s no doubting the sense of loss and feelings of anxiety being experienced in local communities because of the wildfires, there are tales of enormous community support for emergency crews.

Lake Country mayor Blair Ireland has been talking about the generosity of citizens who have shown their support for the professionals doing their utmost to keep them safe.

Over the weekend the treats just kept coming.

“I had a comment from one of the police officers who was looking after the evacuation ordered area and he said: ‘Your community is making us fat,’ Ireland told Kelowna10.

He said a man rented an ice cream truck from the owners and drove around giving the treats out to emergency personnel.

“He wasn’t trying to get into those areas, he was just trying to look after those guys and make people smile and make people happy,“ Ireland said.

The next day, a grocery truck came with fresh fruit for everyone, and then came a family with their car packed full of coffee and doughnuts.

“It’s tremendous. It’s really what a great community is all about,” he said.

While Lake Country residents have been showering their emergency crews with eats, there’s a message from the West Kelowna fire chief who has kindly asked for the generous community there to stop bringing goodies.

While Jason Brolund said his teams were very appreciative of the water and other drinks, fruit and veg they were gifted in the early days of the incident, it has now become overwhelming.

“I can’t wait for the day to have a home-cooked meal but please don’t bring it to the fire hall because I can’t serve it to the firefighters safely,” he explained.

Instead Brolund has asked the community to show their appreciation by writing cards or posting messages of support to social media.