Dangers in B.C.

I was very “green” about wood heating and had much to learn.  The airtight heater in the cabin was situated so the stovepipe went up through the ceiling near where the roof met the cabin. This space was called a knee-well or knee-wall. I had a good fire going one day and as I was doing dishes I started to smell smoke. Well I looked up to see flames travelling along the inside of the roof and

along the inside of the roof and nearly had a heart

attack. However no time to panic gotta do something about it. As with most places around the area the cabin had a shake roof and cedar
burns easily and well! A hippie guy happened by and I told him to go to the house and tell Irma I had a fire. I looked at a nearby shed and also a huge tree and thought it was a possibility that the house would go too! The hippie told Irma but only came back with a bucket. He was very panicky but I did talk him into filling the bucket with water while I went up a ladder onto the roof. No one else came to help at all. I literally tore the shakes off the roof in order to get the fire out and of course ended up with a big hole in the roof. Once the fire was out I just sat there and shook. I slept cold that night as could not stand the thought of the fire starting again. Someone helped me move the stove to a different spot but I never again felt safe about wood heating. But I still took chances and one time started the fire and left it while I did some more chores. The fire had gotten going alright and the pressure it had built up had the lid flapping up and down like popcorn and the cabin of course was full of smoke. Sometimes there were just too many things to learn.

   Every so often the men would drop off a load of wood and it was up to me to split it and put it in my wood shed. One day Ed Davidson came by with his family for a supper invitation with Aldingers. I was out splitting wood and Ed watched me for a time and then showed me how to hit the wood with the axe where there was a crack and it would split much easier. Well that was very true but not something a city kid would necessarily know.

That first winter was a lonely one but Frank often came by for coffee and that was always a boost to my morale. Just before Christmas I was going in to Nelson to shop with Frank and Lyn and Kelly. As we drove by the turn-off for Cody Caves I noticed a little dog running up the bank. This seemed unusual to me as there did not seem to be any houses about. That's when Frank noticed tracks leading off the highway and over the bank. Andre Goudroe and his wife and three young boys had gone over just before we arrived. The vehicle was upside down and the wheels still turning when we looked over.  We were in my car and had no rope, Frank felt he could get down there but would need a rope to

 get back up the steep bank, especially when helping someone else. Soon someone else arrived and they had a rope so down he went. Andres wife was dead but the little boys were all alive and crying. Frank brought them up one at a time. One little boy had his leg broken in three places(we later found out) and I kept hoping he would just pass out and be free of the pain but he did not. The next little boy had a cut across his stomach but it was not deep. The third boy was the eldest maybe nine or so and he was in the worst shape as far as crying was concerned and nearly hysterical. I think maybe this boy was next to his Mom and traumatised. Another helper had arrived and I took the eldest boy in this car to the hospital. I had to talk every moment of the way as the boy would only be calm when I talked. It was a long way to keep talking non-stop! Andre himself was complaining about his back so he was left to be gotten out by boat. We delivered the boys to the hospital and most of the morning was gone by then and we certainly were no longer in the mood to go to Nelson. As a matter of fact I was ready to turn in my drivers licence! We phoned that night around supper time and were told the boys were okay and actually running around the hospital. But all told it was an awful
wake-up call to how dangerous the roads were out here.  It is not like Alberta and there were no "ditches" just drop offs of who-knew-how-many feet?It' s not like Alberta and there were no “ditches” just drop offs of who-knew-how-many feet?