Evacuees offer heartfelt thanks

Dear Editor:

To all of those who served us during the Christie Mountain forest fire evacuation:

As we drove away from our home in the Christie Mountain area on the night of Aug. 18, 2020, we felt no little consternation. We drove to the evacuation centre in Penticton and lined up behind other tired, fearful neighbours. The adrenaline rush from frantic packing of what seemed most important at the time didn’t leave until sometime the next day, to be followed by a deep sense of numbness.

What made it easier and more bearable were the kind, generous and patient people with whom we had the pleasure of dealing.

The evacuation centre, where we ended up several times to renew accommodation and food vouchers, was filled with volunteers extraordinaire. They really looked after us.

Wright’s Campground, the Penticton Lakeside Resort and even the parking lot behind St. Ann’s Catholic Church, where we spent the first night of the fire, all made us feel genuinely welcome.

White Spot, where we used our meal vouchers, provided outstanding service with genuine smiles, even though the serving staff was overrun by evacuees — all in the midst of a pandemic. But it was more than just friendliness from these places and people.

It was the individuals, each with their own troubles, some on evacuation alert themselves, some doing back-to-back double shifts to deal with the unexpected overflow of 300-plus households looking for places to sleep, eat and find shelter for their animals, that helped us cope with the situation.

Our treatment by these various places and individuals gave us more than shelter in a firestorm; they gave a feeling of home to the suddenly homeless.

Thank you again Laura, Kara, Manon, Cristal and the many, many people and businesses of Penticton who stepped up to the plate to help us and our neighbours out.

Thank you to the firefighters, police, volunteers, campground, hotel, businesses, and restaurants who helped us through that first awful night and the daze/days that followed.

We are profoundly grateful, and you are awesome. You really are!

C.H. MacDonald & family

Okanagan Falls