Finding the Phoenix

<p><strong style=color: rgba(22 29 26 1)><em>An evacuee tells her harrowing unforgettable story of fleeing the largest and most devastating fire in West Kelowna's history. </em></strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(22 29 26 1)>August 2023 saw the worst wildfire season the province of B.C. has ever recorded. A major contributor: the McDougall Creek wildfire which expanded rapidly into an inferno of such terrifying proportions (13970 hectares/34522 acres) that firefighters feared it might be unstoppable.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(22 29 26 1)>Over the next few days 35000 residents were evacuated at short notice and under looming threat.  Among them was author Judith Hutchinson-Lepore her husband Lorenzo and their intrepid Australian shepherd Oliver. This memoir chronicles their month-long odyssey enduring nomadic living emotional turmoil and the agonizing uncertainty of whether their house had survived. </span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(22 29 26 1)>But it is also a story of hope: Finding the Phoenix and rising from the ashes. A testament to the courage of the 500 firefighters from across the province who risked life and limb to fight the blaze; the dedicated leaders of West Kelowna; and the determination of a community banding together to overcome an unimaginable catastrophe.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(22 29 26 1)>This mesmerizing account serves as both a cautionary tale about natural disasters on the rise and an inspirational tribute to the resilience of the human spirit.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>