Fire and Houses

 I was watching an episode of the series “Industry” where the owner of a massive chateau thanks his dinner guests for the memories that he will always attach “to this house.” And I thought of Los Angeles and all the houses destroyed by the fire and the memories lost and the Slave Lake fire I lived through in 2011 and all the memories lost in it and, the fact that, no matter how rich or poor or in between the individual may be, those are memories lost.  

We didn’t lose house the house we were living a the time but our previous house burnt to the ground; the house in which we had spent 14 years raising our eldest child from age 2 to 16 year-of-age, our middle child from 6 months to 14 and our youngest, for whom the house had been his only home until age 11. There was nothing left, not even the basement that had been constructed of wood.  


Our first house 

!

And the apple tree that we’d planted and buried our first dog beneath, that was gone. And the firepit where our border collie had taken sticks from the fire because he’d brought them home from the trail, that was gone. And the shed that I’d built with my dad and my middle child’s bedroom that I’d also built  with my dad, that was gone.  

And it was my eldest who was most devastated by the fire and I don’t necessarily know why except that her best friend had lived across the street and had been to our house so many times, one of the neighbours thought she was ours. So many memories.  

Living near the forest is one of the greatest joys a person can experience. At least that’s what I believe. My wife and I still live a in forest. Should a fire come through, our home would probably be lost. But, would I live anywhere else? Obviously not.  

Living in a 1000 square foot house on a cul-de -sac in the middle of a small town is not the kind of real estate people dream of. But, it had once been ours as it was someone else’s at the time of the fire.   So, when a house burns to the ground, so too, does do the dreams of its inhabitants and they need the wherewithal to begin again. 

For example, Slave Lake gained a greater sense of identity. Prince William and Princess Kate visited our town as it was the first of what would become a relative common occurrence around the world, people losing their homes to a decimating fire. We became Slave Lake Strong just as Fort McMurray became Fort Mac Strong and Jasper strong and now, LA Strong as demonstrated at the latest LA Rams game where a spectator held up a sign stating just that and the LA Rams coaches and staff all wore LAFD t-shirts during the game.


What was left of our first house


People come together in times of crises. So, even though fires have become common place, in Australia, Jasper, and Los Angeles, each of the homes destroyed fires takes away the memories of those who’d inhabited them.  But, if I learned anything from the Slave Lake fire, the best way to recover old memories is to make new ones.  

And perhaps, what we should remember, that even though the CO2 each of us releases is minor compared to the whole, just like the house we lost is minor compared to the whole, it all matters. Whatever we can do to help, matters.


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