Rancher fears for 30 horses left behind near Telegraph Creek as fire rages on

Vernon Marionhad two hours to prepare to flee when he got the evacuation order to leave his home in Telegraph Creek, B.C., earlier this week asthe Alkali Lake wildfire roared closer.

He ran outside, put some of his belongings in a field he thought would be safe from the fire, and tried to protect them with a tarp and water jugs.

"You don't think properly when something like that's happening," he said.

"If you had to do it all over again you'd probably do it differently."

Neighbours and outfitters have offered to take horse trailers into the area to rescue the animals, but officialstold Marion it's too dangerous.

So nowhe has to wait and find out what is to become of his ranchand his horses.

"We'll go down there if we get a break [Friday]and round them up."

'We're resilient'

Yukon Minister of Tourism and member of theTahltanFirst Nation Jeanie Dendys was in Telegraph Creek during the evacuationwhere she and her sister helped people get out of the community.

"Our chief is working non-stopwhich is what we did during those initial days," she said.

"There's so much work to be done, but people are safeand that was what our main focus was."

Dendys saidthe Tahltan people are heartbroken over the devastation the wildfire has causedin their region, but she believes the strength of the community will help them overcome theloss.

"We're resilient," she said."The unity that we have among our people will bring us through this."

Fires merged

Early Thursday, the South Stikine River and Alkali Lake fires mergedcreated a fire covering almost 300 square kilometres.

At a meeting in Dease Lake on Wednesday night, B.C. Wildfire Service incident commander Hugh Murdoch said ground crews and air support are working to protect culturally significant sites and buildings in the area.

"The type of efforts that we've been putting forward will continue," Murdoch said.

A cold front is expected to pass through the area in coming days, and crews are preparing for a potential increase in wind and shift in its direction.

With files from Philippe Morin

Read more from CBC British Columbia