Heather MacKay says she may have lost her rental home and everything inside it, but she still considers herself rich because she has her family.
MacKay left for work on Thursday morning knowing her home was on evacuation alert in West 琉璃神社 and took some important documents and jewelry and left.
鈥淢y husband said on a scale of one to 10, the chance of us being evacuated was a two.鈥�
An hour or so later her husband called and said she needed to get home quickly and pack a bag because an evacuation order came down due to the McDougall Creek fire. By the time she got there, the road was closed and she had to trust her husband and two daughters to pack up the necessities and evacuate.
鈥淭hey couldn鈥檛 find my swimsuits or my shorts, so I have lots of jeans and shirts I haven鈥檛 worn in a year and my pink power suit and two pairs of underwear.鈥�
The MacKay family of four was living in a rental home on McNaughton Road and knew there would be nothing to return to after a camera they had set up in a cupboard to catch a rodent, set off a notification that activity was taking place, but instead of a mouse it was smoke billowing before the lens followed by a smoke alarm.
鈥淲e are grateful that we were able to find out so quickly that we鈥檇 lost our home. We have friends that still don鈥檛 know if they have a home or not. It鈥檚 not looking good, but they don鈥檛 know at all.鈥�
Wedding gifts, handmade ornaments from her kids, and photos were lost in the blaze.
鈥淢y husband did grab my grandfather鈥檚 teacup that he knew was important to me, so that鈥檚 all I have.鈥�
MacKay says they do have renters insurance, something they probably wouldn鈥檛 have even thought about if it wasn鈥檛 required by the property managers.
The MacKay鈥檚 have family in 琉璃神社 and Peachland where they are staying temporarily.
A set up by MacKay鈥檚 sister has raised over $5,000 in just a couple days to support the family that includes two adult children as well as pets.
The challenge now, MacKay says, is finding rental homes in the Central Okanagan they can all afford.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to find a three-bedroom, animal friendly place for my husband and I and our younger daughter. Then we鈥檙e also looking for a one-bedroom suite for our older daughter, and that鈥檚 probably going to be the hardest one because it鈥檚 really hard for a single person to pay $1,500 or more a month.鈥�
Through it all, MacKay has been finding little joys like knowing her family is safe and laughing at what her daughters chose to pack for her.
鈥淟augh and cry and repeat is my current motto.鈥�
READ MORE: Smokey with a chance of rain; West 琉璃神社 McDougall Creek Wildfire update
brittany.webster@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on
