Grocery store serves as essential service for community during devastating B.C. fire

Located near Shuswap Lake and its 1,000 kilometres of picturesque shoreline, both stores get a boost during the summer season when tourists and regular vacationers from B.C. and Alberta descend on the area. Scotch Creek in particular expands from a population of 15,000 during the winter months to 50,000 in the summer.

That kind of fluctuation requires good planning—and a propensity for being prepared.

“I make sure I’ve got a fair number of spare parts around. If I’ve got a fan motor that burns out every 12 months, I’ll have a fan motor somewhere in my repertoire,” Brooke says.

“Being rural, you can’t go to a hardware store 24/7 to get supplies. You’ve got to have your own.”

These habits came in especially handy in August 2023 when one of the fastest-growing fires ever recorded in B.C. ripped through the Shuswap region. According to a 2024 BDC study, 31% of Canada’s small businesses have already been affected by extreme weather events.

The blaze grew nearly 20 kilometres in 12 hours, forcing the evacuation of 3,000 residents and ultimately destroying more than 175 structures, including the fire hall located directly across from Scotch Creek Market.

Foresight and planning helped curb damage

Forest fires had been burning in the distance for weeks in B.C., but things abruptly came to a head in Scotch Creek on August 18, 2023. By 10am, a wall of fire was creeping over the mountain just over a kilometre from the store. And the smell of smoke was coming in strong.

Brooke and Linda ensured their staff got out safely and grabbed the cash floats, mainframe computers and other important store items before fleeing to their home in Chase. Within hours, they’d be forced to evacuate again, this time to Kamloops.

By the next morning, the Kynochs learned that the fire hall across the street and a strip mall beside the store had been burned to the ground, but a drugstore and their gas station had survived. And so had Scotch Creek Market. “We had sprinklers on our rooftop there, which we think made a big difference,” Brooke says.

He was anxious to return to the store as soon as possible.

“I knew my generators were going to need diesel to keep running, so I had to get back there. The roads were blocked, but I have a pontoon boat, so that’s how 10 of us went over with jerry cans of diesel.”

The crew immediately moved as much meat, dairy and frozen foods as they could into a 53 ft. refrigerated trailer Brooke had had the foresight to order a few days before.

“I was being a Boy Scout and wanted to be prepared with a place to put frozen foods and meats. I figured I could transfer it to Chase so I wouldn’t lose it. I’m glad I did,” he says.

Serving the community during cleanup

Knowing the generators that were keeping the store’s coolers and freezers refrigerated would need to be refueled again within 20 hours, Brooke began negotiating with the RCMP to declare the store an essential service.

Ultimately, it was the fire department’s needs that contributed to Brooke getting clearance to return to the store every day for the next 18 days of road closures. They needed to be fed three meals daily and Brooke had access to food.

His re-entry permit didn’t allow anyone to accompany him, so Brooke tackled the cleanup in the 14,000 sq. ft. grocery store first with one local employee and then a handful more as the days passed. The task was to clean the store from top to bottom to remediate the smoke damage. “I drove to Kelowna to pick up filters and blowers so we could start getting the store back together,” he says. 

Though they were told not to sell food, Brooke couldn’t find his way to not serve residents in the area who didn’t have other options. He left some stock at the back of the yard for people to take. And for 70 people who were feeding larger groups, he took orders. When they came to pick up their groceries, he’d take a picture of them with it.

“I told them I’d delete the photo from my phone when they came back to pay for it after we re-opened. Everybody came back and paid.”

In the weeks that followed, the Kynochs continued doing what they could as members of the Scotch Creek community, including paying staff members for their normal hours when the store was closed. “They’re part of our family and many of them were spread out at friends’ or hotels all over the place. Some lost their homes. We wanted them to have one less thing to worry about,” says Brooke.

The couple also bought 50 freezers to donate to local residents via the Lions Club. “I saw a lot of fridges and freezers duct taped shut in front of homes in Scotch Creek in the days after the fire. One night I got home and said, ‘Why don’t we buy a bunch of freezers and give them away?’ A supplier heard what we were doing and bought 50 more freezers to be donated.”

Good relationships key to business recovery

Taking stock of the damage was an ongoing process. One of the biggest and most obvious issues was with Scotch Creek Market’s roof. Embers had burned through the rubber membrane roof and thousands of washers and screws melted.

An insurance claim covered the replacement of the roof and a timber outbuilding, cameras and wiring, the food damage and other repairs. Loss of income was a big part of the claim since the fire occurred during one of the busiest weeks of the year for the store.

The Kynochs say the positive relationships they’ve formed over the years were key to getting through the fire and its aftermath.

“We know how to sell groceries and run these stores, but the positive personal relationships with people at BDC, our bank and insurance company go a long way. Being able to pick up the phone and talk to people we know made a big difference as we worked through the recovery details,” Linda says.

Connection to their community was also critical before, during and after the fire. “We wouldn’t be here without our brave residents. We are Shuswap Strong,” says Brooke.

Investing to protect their business from future fires

Preparedness and self-sufficiency were also significant factors in the swift recovery of Scotch Creek Market.

“We’re problem solving every day. The wildfire was just another extreme example of doing what we do as business owners,” Brooke says.

Since the fire, the Kynochs have purchased additional sprinklers and other fire suppression equipment. A few of their staff members in Scotch Creek have taken a firefighting course that allows them to stay in case of a fire. They’ll be ready to work through it if another one makes its way through their region.

“If you’re an entrepreneur, you need to rely on yourself the most,” Linda explains. “You don’t wait for people to do things for you. You have to look ahead and take the necessary precautions to protect your property.”

Next step

Minimize the risk that an emergency could pose to your operations by downloading BDC’s free resource, Business continuity plan template.