At the end of the driveway to their scorched property stands a golden owl proudly perched on a stump, placed pre-fire so people could find their home.
"It lifts my spirits to see him there," said Amanda Morris, of the photos she has seen of her burned out property.
Beyond the owl and a couple of blueberry plants, Morris and her partner Andrew Boyd lost everything else in the Magee Road fire that swept through the Squamish Valley starting on Wednesday, April 15.
As of Sunday at 3 p.m. the fire remained at 203 hectares, but was considered "being held."
The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is human-caused and an investigation is ongoing.
Morris and Boyd are well-known members of the community.
Morris is the owner of Squamish Gymnastics and Freestyle Arts, which has seen two decades worth of youth pass through its programs.
Boyd is well known for his work and dedication to mountain biking, and creating rock climbing and trail building infrastructure in town.
He is responsible for hundreds of climbing routes and boulder problems in Squamish and beyond.
“Thousands of hours and countless dollars of his own money have been spent over the decades producing undoubtedly some of the highest quality climbs that are out there. If that wasn't enough, he decided to get into trail building. Treasure Trail and Pleasure Trail are his creations," said their friend Chris Weldon, who set up the GoFundMe campaign "Help Amanda and Andrew. Home lost in Valley Fire."
Boyd and Morris gave their blessing for the campaign, which had reached almost $60,000 by Sunday afternoon.
"The cabin itself along with my home office and computer for my businesses is completely gone," Morris told The Chief, adding their recently planted food garden and two vehicles were also lost.
The couple also lost two shipping containers that held Boyd’s tools, trials bikes, mountain bikes, climbing and camping gear. Morris' contained everything from the design side of her business including sewing machines, serger, clothing and costume design studio items. It also held her costume collection, paddleboard, bike, camping and snowboard equipment.
"We are safe and staying with friends for the short term and overwhelmed by the incredible support from our community," Morris said.
The couple has not yet secured longer-term accommodations, but has had several "generous offers," Morris said, adding that they are just trying to wrap their heads around what has happened at this point.
"We would love nothing more than to rebuild in the Squamish Valley, I have been at that spot since 2006. We have yet to determine what will be feasible," she said.
They have had offers of donations of clothing and household items, but have yet to sort out a storage location to receive donations.
"I do want to say a huge thank you and send so much love out to everyone in our community and beyond for all the love and support. We are so fortunate to be a part of this community for the last 20 years," she said.
~The Chief is following up with the intended recipients of the other fundraising campaigns and will endeavour to have those stories in the coming days.
