OKANAGAN VALLEY — Some return home to find their house still standing. Others return to find nothing. Everything has been devoured by the flames. Burned to the ground. Lost. As some residents begin returning to their homes in the Summerland area, following last week’s mass evacuation caused by the devastating Bald Range wildfire, the picture emerging from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley is far from uniform.
While the re-entry phase has gradually begun in Summerland (where several dozen homes have been destroyed), the community of Faulder/Meadow Valley, in Area F of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and directly behind Summerland, has been hit much harder. Much of the community remains under an evacuation order, the fire is still out of control and the full extent of the devastation has yet to be assessed. And what remains is very little.
“Our community has lost 90 per cent or more of its homes and properties,” Joel Patan, a resident of Faulder/Meadow Valley, told us via social media. “My own home was also completely destroyed by the flames” — as shown in the before-and-after photos (in the pics above the headline).
Patan – whom we contacted via Messenger on Monday afternoon – is currently staying in Penticton, living in his mother-in-law’s basement with his wife, Kelly, their daughters Chloe and Blake, aged five and three, their two dogs and their cat. A beautiful and big family (in the pic here below) that has not yet been able to truly return home, in part because access to Faulder/Meadow Valley remains severely restricted: temporary access permits are being issued in some cases, based on need, while some residents who remained behind have continued to keep watch over the community. “We haven’t really been able to go back yet,” Patan explains. “There are temporary access permits. Only some of our neighbours have been able to stay behind to keep everyone safe from flare-ups, feed the animals and make sure there are no looters.”
More and more families are being granted temporary access to their properties, but the situation remains extremely uncertain. “The true extent of the devastation has not yet been confirmed because our area is still considered an evacuation zone and the fires are still out of control. The situation is constantly evolving.”
For Patan, however, the concern is not only about the immediate destruction. There is also a fear that the devastation suffered by his community could be overshadowed as better-known areas such as Summerland begin to reopen. “We mourn for both of our communities,” Joel says. “But we are afraid that ours will be forgotten.”
To help prevent that from happening, Patan and his wife, Kelly, decided to collect donations and offers of assistance, making the premises of their family business, “Patan Heating” (a heating and air-conditioning company) in Penticton, available to help families affected by the fire. Within a few days, the shop had effectively become a “Free Store” for families who had lost everything, where essential supplies are collected and distributed. The first volunteers, including “Patan Heating” employees, family members, friends and complete strangers, showed up spontaneously to organize donations, welcome families and distribute essential supplies — including cleaning products, reusable drinkware, batteries, school supplies and gift cards for urgent expenses.
“The photos I’ve shared on social media,” Joel tells us, referring to the images like the pic here above, “show just some of our incredible volunteers: total-loss families helping other total-loss families, staff and their families, friends, and complete strangers who simply walked through the door ready to help. Every person sorting, stocking, carrying boxes, cleaning, organizing or simply asking, ‘What can I do?’ is making a difference.”
At the same time, a “GoFundMe” campaign (here the link: Bald Range Wildfire Relief – Faulder & Summerland) has been launched to support families affected by the wildfire. The goal is to create a fund that can step in where insurance, emergency programs and other forms of assistance may not cover all the needs that will emerge in the coming days, weeks and months. As Patan explains, “it’s not about replacing the incredible assistance already in place, but about supplementing it and filling the gaps that emerge during the long road to recovery.”
A long and not easy road, but the community is more united than ever. “More hands make less work,” Joel says — and that is the message guiding the Faulder/Meadow Valley community as it faces this new phase of the wildfire emergency — one that may prove even more difficult than the evacuation itself.
(All photos courtesy of Joel Patan, via his Facebook page)
