Squamish’s Tamara Nelson is opening her home to strangers.
The mother of two wants to alert families in Whistler or Pemberton that she has a spare couch and a child’s bedroom, with a twin bed, and a spare crib available for free for a few nights for families wanting to escape the smoke from wildfires in the Pemberton region.
Last week, the air quality ranking in Whistler was off the charts, topping 11 on the BC Air Quality Health Index – the highest the ratings go – and meaning there was a high health risk from the smoke.
The highest rating Squamish has received was a 10 on July 6, and district ratings hovered closer to a 6 most days until the smoke dissipated on Friday.
Nelson said she saw many people talking online about how bad things were north of Pemberton but not doing anything about it.
She created a Facebook group, “Ditch the smoke July 2015,” so others can offer up some space in their homes.
“Me and a friend were just talking that we wish we could tell people, ‘The air is a bit better here if you want to come to stay – we have a bit of extra space,’” Nelson said, while holding her one-year-old son Wyatt and keeping an eye on three-year-old Keira at Stan Clarke Park on Friday.
“If it was 35, like they were saying a couple of days ago, I wouldn’t want to stay,” Nelson said.
No one has taken her up on the offer yet, but she said with wildfires such as the Elaho still raging and more fires predicted for the summer, she wants to raise awareness about the group in case things get worse.
“It is expensive to stay at hotels and not everyone can afford to,” she said.
“I would like to have that opportunity if the situation were reversed.”
