It will be a year next month since the Rock Creek wild fire roared through the boundary country, destroying 30 homes and scarring the landscape.
Today, the healing process is still underway, especially for some students at West Boundary Elementary, who’ve embarked on a soul searching journey trying to find beauty in the devastation through art.
Jayden Uphill’s sculpture reflects his memories of floating down the Kettle River.
“It’s a very emotional time going through there because you’re reminded of everything that happened but it’s still a beautiful river,” said Uphill.
Hannah’s Corfe’s fire truck on charred ground reminds her of her father.
“My dad’s a volunteer fire fighter, so when we were evacuated from the fire, he was gone most of the time because he had to fight it. I’m just glad none of the fire trucks did get burnt,” said Corfe.
Jade Fossen, meanwhile, manages to see the good through the bad.
“I think that even though the fire burnt all the trees and everything the grass is coming up and new things are coming up out of the bushes where the trees are gone but there’s grass and flowers coming out of it,” said Fossen.
Vice Principal Anna Lautard says having students to put their emotions into art has helped them to heal, and not only find the inner beauty in their community but within themselves.
“Art is healing. Being able to get into that process of creating something really allows you to get in touch with who you are and allows you to — I don’t want to use the word ‘get better’ — but kind of move forward after something not necessarily nice has happened,” said Lautard.
The art program was funded in part by a $7,000 provincial grant from the Art Starts program and an additional $3,000 from the Red Cross.