My First Visit to Kelowna After the Fire

My First Visit to Kelowna After the Fire

On my 33rd birthday weekend (Sept 22, 2003), I flew home to Kelowna to see "the devastation".

Day 1 - First visit to the site

That evening, I went with my folks to a dinner party at the Fitzpatrick's.

Day 2 - Searching for "treasures"

Did anything survive? Not much...the fire was so intense, even my dad's outboard boat motors MELTED.

The boat lift & boat were intact. The flag got a bit tattered...kinda like the 911 flag.

The bike-carrier that Jason gave mum & dad for the motorhome

The elephant piggy-bank my gramma gave me back in the 80's. Both mine & Jason's survived the fire.

Later the same day, Jason & I returned to the site to continue searching.

Me with one of the 2 elephant piggy banks.

That's melted glass with ash glommed onto the elephant on the left.

Conclusion from this day of searching: Anything that Gretzinger hands make lasts FOREVER! Bumpa's boat-lift, bumpa's staircase & railing, and gramma's elephant piggy-banks!

Day 3 - Clearing the lot

By fluke, the last day I was there, the diggers showed up at our lot to clear away the debris.

Before the digger started...

After the digger was done. Maybe took him 1.5 hours tops!

The last picture of our 300-year old pine tree. It has since been cut down due to safety concerns. Plus, who really wants to look at a scorched tree for the rest of their lives?

© 2003 coreyhallisey.com