Dee Bartens, right, and her husband Randy Kostiuk are seen standing outside their cabin outside Ashcroft that was cared for by Aussie firefighters during the Elephant Hill wildfire last summer.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Dee Bartens
May 31, 2018 - 6:30 PM
When last year’s wildfires roared through the Ashcroft area near Kamloops, a couple from Langley thought their summer cabin approximately 100 kilometres outside the small town would be safe.
But as the wind picked up and the wildfire spread rapidly, their isolated property at the base of Mount Jim was placed under an evacuation order.
“The fire started making its way in our direction,” Dee Bartens says. “I remember we were watching where the fire was heading with the maps online to keep an eye on the situation.”
Bartens and her husband weren’t able to get back to their cabin by the time the evacuation orders were rescinded in the late fall of last year.
The note found tucked in the door of the cabin.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Dee Bartens
“Our area was the last to be released off an evacuation order and by that time we weren’t able to get up there because there was so much snow and there is no road access during the winter,” she says.
The Langley couple were finally able to head back to their cabin for the first time earlier this month. They were relieved to see their cabin next to Green Lake was still standing and noticed a little note tucked into the front door.
“We just felt like oh my God, someone was looking after our piece of heaven," Bartens says.
The note was from a group of Australian firefighters that were battling the fires in the area last year.
“It turns out the crews were using the lake on our property as a primary water source,” Bartens says. “They were using the cabin as a hangout while they were working in that particular area.”
The crew members who are now back in Australia were notified that Bartens had received their note through a Facebook post that was shared several times.
“We felt deeply touched and I used social media to try and reach out and thank the firefighters from Australia,” she says.
The crew leader Gary Cooper was able to get in touch with her over Facebook.
“This cabin became the focal point and a refuge for our time spent protecting properties around Jim Lake,” Cooper says in a Facebook message to Bartens. “Our team of 20 back burned around your cabin to protect it.”
The crew member who wrote the note, Andrew Toolie also commented on the post Bartens shared.
Bartens says she plans on keeping the note and putting it somewhere safe.
“We are going to frame it eventually and keep it as a good luck charm."
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