REO Rafting and Yoga Resort, a staple of the Fraser Canyon for the past 40 years, has lost most of it’s facilities to the Kookipi Creek Wildfire.
“I thought we were spared because the fire, in my mind, it had gone up and over,” said Bryan Fogelman, one of the owners of the resort, when speaking about the fire.
“But in the early morning hours of Friday (Aug.18), when the next day the winds changed and kind of moved more in our direction, the fire came in with quite a bit of intensity. And that’s destroyed about 80 per cent of the resort.”
The fire, which was caused by lightning and discovered on July 8, exploded on Aug. 17, after being fanned by the high winds that swept through the Fraser Canyon area. Around 2,000 hectares on Aug. 17, the fire is now an estimated 16,961.6 hectares, with evacuation orders and alerts issued by the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD), the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD), and at least seven First Nation communities.
The fire also destroyed the Nahatlatch Fire Lookout tower on Aug.17. (See story A11)
According to Fogelman, who owns and runs the resort with his wife, Karen Fogelman, the fire destroyed all of REO’s new buildings as well as the new Healing Center that they’d been working on for the past two years. He said they’ve also lost their yoga space, their personal cabin, all of their staff lodging, and most of their facilities. This includes water, restroom/sewage, and electricity.
“The wind just came rushing in and I think it just really sparked that fire,” Fogelman said. “We had a rafting trip that day and we’re below where that original fire was by about three or four kilometres. And when they (the rafting crew and party) arrived on that Thursday, around 2:30 p.m., the forest on the other side of the river was on fire.”
Fogelman said that the sight of the fire, and its rapid progress, concerned him and the rest of the crew. As the fire had been burning weeks before its “explosion,” he said they’d been keeping an eye on the growing smoke throughout the days as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.
This came to a head on Aug. 17. Worried for the safety of their guests and themselves, Fogelman and his crew decided it wouldn’t be safe to continue rafting and got everyone to leave the site. This proved to be the correct decision when, 20 to 25 minutes later, the fire jumped the river and began burning on their side.
“We evacuated all the guests safely and very quickly. And then we had about an hour to two hours to try to get our staff and all their personal stuff out,” he said. “We didn’t get a lot of our business stuff out. We just didn’t have the time because what was happening was the powerful winds had pushed the fire right up the slopes of the Nahatlatch.”
Located in the Nahatlatch Valley, REO Rafting was first established by Fogelman and his wife as a place to give people memorable experiences while being surrounded by nature. In fact, throughout the decades, the couple has dedicated their time to protecting the valley and doing what they can to “preserve it’s natural beauty.” This includes having a role in the creation of the Nahatlatch Provincial Park, helping to preserve the natural wildlife, improving the facilities on their property to mitigate their impact on the land, and bringing awareness to the land.
With that in mind, Fogelman said that the fire has been a wake up call when it comes to climate change and changing the way they understand and interact with the area. It’s also made him and his family more determined to continue to protect nature and foster a better relationship with the valley — which is something he hopes people will take more seriously, too.
Despite the destruction, Fogelman is choosing to remain positive that REO Rafting will be able to rebuild — while also acknowledging that it will, realistically, take a long time to get the resort back to its former glory; due to the location of their business, as well as the nature of the business, the Fogelmans have been unable to obtain insurance for forest fires over the last couple of years.
“Our intention is to rebuild and we know it’s going to take a long time. But we are going to continue our vision and our dream of providing an amazing outdoor experience,” he said.
Fogelman said he’s grateful to those who’ve already donated and supported him, his family, and the staff of REO rafting; to help with repairs and getting the couple back on their feet, a GoFundMe page — with a goal of $250,000 — was set up. As of Tuesday night (Aug. 29), a total of $79,598 had been raised.
“We’ve received such tremendous response and such meaningful messages,” Fogelman said. “We’re in tears daily when we see the support that we’re getting.
“I know for a fact that we’re not the only people that need support. There are a lot of people in our area that have lost homes and I just feel the Upper Fraser Canyon in particular has faced many challenges in the last three years. And I just feel that there needs to be a little bit more attention given to that area.
“And our hope is that we can we can improve things and that the entire Fraser Canyon, and the Hope region, will benefit as a result. Because it is world class.”
To donate to and help support REO Rafting and the Fogelmans, readers can visit www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-reo-rafting-yoga-resort.
READ MORE: Kookipi Creek fire destroys Nahatlatch Fire Lookout tower
@KemoneMoodley
kemone.moodley@hopestandard.com
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