Clinton man helps feed firefighters, witnesses fire\u00a0<\/p>\n
Published 5:00 am Saturday, August 1, 2026<\/p>\n
When the Pear Lake fire reached Clinton on Friday, July 24, Tim Green was one of the handful of residents who stayed behind. <\/p>\n
A recent Langley transplant, Green moved to Clinton in June after falling in love with the village. A heavy equipment operator and former cook by trade, he said he was looking for a quiet life for him and his wife and Clinton fit the bill. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the kind of lifestyle (me and my wife) want. Nice, peaceful, quiet,\u201d Green said. \u201cThe people in Clinton have been very welcoming to me and I felt, with my cooking skills, I had something I could offer Clinton.\u201d <\/p>\n
When the evacuation order came down Friday, Green, who had gotten a job as a cook at the Cariboo Lodge, chose to stay to protect his trailer at Goldtrail RV Park and Campground. He explained that he had called his insurance company to confirm he would be covered, and when they told him he wasn\u2019t, he stayed behind to try and keep his trailer safe. <\/p>\n
Green said what followed was one of the scariest nights of his life as he watched the wildfire spread and surround the community. He noted he has experienced six other wildfires before in communities across Canada, but none were quite like what he experienced in Clinton. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis one here made me very nervous. On Friday, I probably didn\u2019t get more than an hour, maybe two, of sleep. What water we had, I was busy protecting my trailer and a couple of other trailers that were close to me,\u201d Green recalled. \u201cIf one trailer caught on fire, then I\u2019m pretty sure mine would have caught on fire too.\u201d <\/p>\n
He protected his trailer by using a garden hose and a spray nozzle to soak the roofs of each trailer to prevent any sparks or embers from catching. Several times, when he went on top of his trailer, he found evidence of burnt branches that had fallen on top. <\/p>\n
Green noted he was assisted in these efforts by the owner of the trailer park and a few others who stayed behind to keep the park safe. <\/p>\n
As the fire situation stabilized in Clinton on Saturday and Sunday, Green said he was contacted by his manager, Diane, at the Cariboo Lodge with an opportunity to give back to the men and women who had helped protect Clinton. A contractor coming from Kamloops to feed the firefighters needed a cook and they asked Green if he could help. <\/p>\n
Green agreed, and on Monday, July 27, he headed to the parking lot behind the Clinton Curling Club at 5 a.m. and started cooking out of the back of a food truck. He said he had experience cooking banquet style, so making large amounts of food in a short time wasn\u2019t the hardest thing to get back into. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe first day was kind of rough, we were just trying to find our footing, but I found it kind of faster than everybody else did, so I just kind of took over the kitchen,\u201d Green said. \u201cThe fella who gave me the job just gave me the kitchen, so I just took over and applied my knowledge on how this should be done and everything went smoothly. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe firefighters were fed quickly; they had warm meals. By the third day, the meals were fast and hot. In my opinion, a meal is the most important part of the day.\u201d <\/p>\n
The meals Green made for the firefighters included tacos, salads, hamburgers, French fries, chicken and anything else that had been donated to them. The only real limitation was the room and equipment they had available, but despite this, Green said he felt he and the other cooks did a \u201cbang-up job,\u201d providing celiac, vegan and gluten-free options to those who needed them. He estimates they served 1,400 meals a day for four days. <\/p>\n
Green said he served his last meals to the firefighters on Thursday, who have now largely moved on from Clinton to, he assumes, follow the path of the Pear Lake fire. He remarked he feels like he was in the right place at the right time to help them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of the most honourable times in my life to have taken part and to help these firefighters. (I made) sure they had good meals, they had strength, they had nourishment so they could go out and fight these fires to help protect this town,\u201d Green remarked. \u201cThese firefighters, they were so happy that they were able to eat good food\u2026 they were so appreciative, so happy and so satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green said his heart goes out to all those who have lost homes or property in this fire in and around Clinton. He looks forward to seeing the rest of the town return home and power restored, noting he\u2019s currently relying on power from his generator. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like there was a reason why I defied the evacuation order and I think this was it. God really gave me the strength to live on the two hours of sleep, get up and go and feed the people who are saving our town.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clinton man helps feed firefighters, witnesses fire\u00a0 Published 5:00 am Saturday, August 1, 2026 By Patrick Davies\/100 Mile…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":840456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[244562,49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-840455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-bc-north","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}