A family in the Halifax suburb of Hammonds Plains is sifting through the remains of their home after wildfires swept through the community late last month.
While they were initially hoping to find treasures like jewelry, it’s the priceless items that are proving to be meaningful.
“Ceramics until this point were not really important to us, which is ironic I guess,” said Pamela Zawidzki.
“The things we found aren’t as meaningful as we were hoping for, but now they are.”
Among the resilient survivors is a vintage Campbell’s soup bowl that had also survived Hurricane Fiona. She called it a “surprising” find, one that had come from her parents’ cottage in P.E.I that was destroyed by the storm last year.
“It will obviously have a place of honour in our house or in our trailer,” she said.
The family’s home is one of more than 150 lost in the wildfires. The fire, which broke out on May 28, destroyed about 200 buildings, and forced the evacuation of more than 16,400 people.
Pamela’s husband, Mark, is a volunteer firefighter. Not only did he battle the wildfires on the frontlines, he also alerted neighbours about the blaze when it first started.
“Someone mentioned that because of his Facebook post, he actually saved quite a few lives … and I was calling friends as we were leaving saying, ‘You need to go, you need to go!’ recalled Pamela.
“So there’s a few people that didn’t realize how fast it was moving. And he saved some lives.”
The entire time he was fighting the fires, Mark knew his own house had likely been lost. Two other firefighters living on the same street also lost their homes.
“We were doing the best we could to protect people’s homes. We knew the firefighters (working on my street) would be doing the same,” he said.
The volunteer-led group, Team Rubicon, is now in the area helping fire victims sift through the ash and rubble to reunite people with cherished possessions.
While the volunteers have found “some gems,” the most valuable items haven’t necessarily been the most expensive.
“What we’re finding in these particular fires is a lot of the porcelain things like urns from family members who have passed away. Of course, they have huge emotional value to the families,” said Rodger Sloan, with Team Rubicon.
That rings especially true for the Zawidzkis.
From the rubble, a teapot survived. Pamela said it’s about 50 years old and dates back to when her family lived in Germany. She and her sisters each have a part of the set.
Meanwhile, Mark was able to recover his five-year service pin for his work as a volunteer firefighter.
That soot-covered, dusty find has offered a glimmer of hope.
“I also have a 10-year pin inside the home. They were not able to find that,” he explained.
“I haven’t given up hope. Maybe I’ll keeping looking for it.”