What happened in 74-year-old Denise Trudeau’s small South Okanagan community still feels like a nightmare. “Every day you wake up and think, ‘Is that a nightmare we had? Isn’t this over yet? Can’t I just go home?” said the Faulder senior, standing on the property where she lived for more than three decades. Trudeau and Ron Horner, 86, lost their house when the Bald Range fire roared through Faulder on Aug. 7. “There’s something about standing there and seeing your whole life, 36 years, gone in a flash. To this degree. I mean, it’s like a bomb went off,” Trudeau said as she fought back tears. “It’s heartbreaking. It’s like somebody took your whole life and just squashed it,” she explained, adding that she raised her children on the property. For the first time, CTV’s news cameras were allowed inside the Faulder restricted zone, where they found widespread devastation. More than 110 properties had buildings burn, and residents say about 30 per cent of those who lost their homes didn’t have insurance. Trudeau told CTV News that the fire moved rapidly, describing its behaviour as “like a tornado.” On the day of the fire, she said neighbours warned neighbours as the fire spread. Trudeau said they stayed until the flames were suddenly very close, and they had no choice but to stop packing and get out. Horner said he heard a neighbour yell, “Ron, you better get in your car and get behind us.”’ He said that’s when he realized the fire was only about 100 to 150 feet from his vehicle. “I was shaking so bad,” said Trudeau as she described driving out of Faulder. “The fire just (had) me in a panic,” she said. While the seniors’ home was insured, a cargo trailer on the property was not. Inside that trailer was something very dear to Trudeau. It contained equipment used each year for the Summertime Bluegrass Festival, which her father helped begin many decades ago. “That broke my heart that all of the equipment and everything that we put our blood, sweat and tears into …it’s gone. It’s just a pile of rubble,” she said. Meanwhile, they try to navigate their new reality. “You’re sitting here, and you’re anxious to clear the debris and whatever and get down to building,’ said Horner. But all of that takes time, including navigating through the insurance process. “We’ll make it. We’ll make it,” he said.
