204 Days Later: Coming Home After the Wildfire

204 Days Later: Coming Home After the Wildfire

I thought we’d be gone for three days.

When I packed up the kids, grabbed what little I could fit in the truck, and left our home behind, we had no idea it would be 204 days before we returned. The wildfire forced us out with no time to think—just enough to grab the essentials and go. What we thought was a short evacuation turned into a long journey through the interior of BC and Alberta, eventually settling in Hinton for what feels like a whole new life with friends, routines, familiar faces and favourite dinner spots.

On February 11, we finally had our first sleep back home. But home feels different now. The walls are the same, but our lives have changed. The kids are still processing everything, trying to understand why the place they once felt safest had to be left behind for so long. We don’t have much more than a bag of clothes each and a few things we collected along the way. It will take time to settle back in, to rebuild not just our home, but our sense of normalcy.

Through all the loss—of jobs, of friendships, of time—we have also been incredibly fortunate. Some of our valuables were spared, and my workshop remains intact. That workshop has been my refuge, keeping my hands and mind busy through the uncertainty. It’s a reminder that not everything was lost, that there is still a foundation to rebuild from.

Coming home after so long is emotional, insurance battles remain, damages exist. There is grief for what’s gone, but also gratitude for what remains. And most of all, there is hope—hope that with time, love, and resilience, we will make this house feel like home again.