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Homecoming: “We were fortunate”

Jim and Lorraine Kulyk return to their home at the 108 Mile Ranch
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Lorraine and Jim Kulyk stand outside their home, shortly after returning to the 108 Mile Ranch. Tara Sprickerhoff photo

One of the first things Jim and Lorraine Kulyk did on their return home to the 108 Mile Ranch was water the flowers.

The couple arrived to find their house on Saturday — like most in the 108 — completely untouched.

They mention briefly that they still need to clear out the fridge, but otherwise they are just happy to be home.

“The deep freeze and stuff like that is minor compared to your house. You hear through the grapevine what the fire fighters did for us, so I was very confident — us being at the 108 here — I felt very confident that our house would be around. I really feel for those people who have lost their homes,” says Jim.

The Kulyks were out camping at Sheridan Lake when the Gustafsen fire started on July 6. They called the fire in from their view from the lake, but when it seemed to get worse on the second day of the fire, the duo decided to make their way home to check how things were going.

“No sooner had we gotten home — we were home maybe half an hour — the RCMP and our neighbours drove by and said you’ve got maybe one hour to evacuate,” says Jim. “What do you take?”

They loaded as much as they could into their truck and headed back to their RV on Sheridan Lake where they stayed for the next two weeks.

While Jim says information was hard to come by, he does say that he thinks the firefighters did a fantastic job.

When they got word they could return, they headed back home through 100 Mile House.

“They made you really feel welcome driving down the hill here, holy smokes it was quite emotional,” he says.

The drive through the 103, where scars from the fire are visible in the form of charred trees from the highway, shocked them.

“You can see how far the burnt trees were and it really brings it home,” says Lorraine.

Both admitted several times to feeling very lucky.

“We were fortunate. We didn’t have to drive all the way to Kamloops and live in an auditorium or something. We had our RV with us.”

Instead, Jim says his heart goes out to people in the Chilcotin currently battling a now estimated 131,958 hectare fire.

“I just feel for the communities out there.”

On top of that, Jim passes out thank yous to the firefighters and (he says) even the politicians for making the return possible.

“It was really touching.”