‘God cleaned the slate’: Ashes pave the road to recovery after B.C. wildfires

By Darryl Greer Joel Patan says his “life is ashes” now, as he sifts the ruins of his home that was incinerated last month, along with most structures in the small community of Faulder outside Summerland, B.C. “It’s just gut-wrenching,” he said. Patan, who runs an HVAC company, said his family moved onto their “dream property” in December 2024, buying it after flipping two other homes. He said there were once more than 80 homes in Faulder but most were destroyed by the Bald Range wildfire that roared eastward on the evening of Aug. 7, setting off an evacuation of thousands from the Okanagan communities. An 80-year-old woman who lived in Meadow Valley nearby died suddenly during the evacuation, and Penticton RCMP said it was believed her death was “a