BURSTA group of seniors finally got to come home to Summerland after being evacuated for almost three weeks.
On Friday afternoon, Aug. 28, the group of 30 seniors were able to step back home at the Summerland Seniors Village after being bussed from their accommodations in the South Okanagan.
The seniors had been staying temporarily at the Mariposa Gardens Community and Retirement Living in Osoyoos since the Bald Range wildfire forced them to evacuate in the middle of night.
“I wasn’t too happy. I was dumbfounded, actually,” said Clarence Bittner, one of the senior’s who were evacuated.
They were given almost 10 minutes to grab what they could and leave. Bittner was able to get some clothes, his wallet and belly pack.
Then they were all rallied up onto a bus and taken to a centre in Penticton where they slept in cots for a night.
The next day, they were taken to the Osoyoos retirement centre, where they’ve been staying for the last three weeks.
Jessica Coburn, executive director at Mariposa Gardens Community, explained that her team was happy to be able to host everyone and make it a safe place for them, as they have been in the same situation before.
“For us at Mariposa, we’ve done this before, we have been both the evacuees, and we have been the receiving site. Ultimately, we just wanted to help them the best that we could and as quickly as possible because we understood that they were coming from the evacuation centre, which is hard enough for seniors. So we really wanted to give them a warm welcome.”
Coburn shared that since their arrival, the seniors have settled in well with their residents. In an attempt to cheer things up, the team organized many activities, like live music performers, pancake breakfasts, a water balloon fight, and more.
“It’s definitely been challenging (for the evacuees). It’s been hard to be away from home, unsettled with the uncertainty of a wildfire, but they’ve really amalgamated with our residents. Our residents have gone above and beyond to make them feel at home as well as our staff. Our staff have just had open arms for them,” Coburn said.
Coburn added that their star resident, Eileen Liikala, 99-years-old, has been going the extra mile to make evacuees feel at home.
“She actually went around at mealtime when everybody arrived and introduced herself and welcomed every single person that came in. And really tried to form relationships with them all.”
Liikala was a wildfire evacuee two years ago and knew the challenging emotions that come with having to move out of your home out of the blue. She said her heart broke when she heard of the seniors having to evacuate.
“I just wanted to be with them because I had experienced that same thing that happened, having to leave your home, two years ago, and I knew how they would feel, and I didn’t want them to feel the way I did, so lost and confused, and tired, and not knowing what was going to happen… I made it a point to go around and shake hands with each one, and welcome them as a gift, welcoming them to our home, and hoping we could help them get through this.”
Liikala was grateful to be able to share the space with the evacuees. She enjoyed spending quality time with them, cheering them up, and playing with water balloons.
“It meant everything to me, because it made me feel better about my experience, and I just did not want them to feel like I felt, and I knew that at that point they were very confused, very upset…I’m very happy that we had this place, and we were able to accommodate everybody and try to help them through this very trying time for them.”
Bittner was separated from his wife, who has dementia and needs full-time care, during the evacuation. She was taken to Kelowna while he was evacuated to Osoyoos.
He was able to go see his wife on her birthday on Aug. 13 when she turned 94-years-old.
“Everything worked out. She’s very, very lonely. I want to get back home, and because I, eat with her too. I’ve decided to eat with her and instead of with the other people, just to be with her. I’m missing her a lot.”
“It’s harder on her, actually. She’s got real dementia, and she sees me; her eyes light up. I am important to her.”
He shared that while he tries to make light of the situation, telling his friends that his experience at the Mariposa was like a paid vacation, he cannot wait to be home again because there is “nothing like being home.”
“I can’t say enough good things about the digs here. They were very patient, but other residents are very patient with having us invade them. I think it is, kudos to those as well. I can say that the food supply was very good under the circumstances, having to supply more. We’ve made some close relationships with some of our people that we didn’t have much to do with. All in all, it’s something I’ll think about.”