Northern B.C. residents are coming together to support the owners of Babine Lake Resort after a fire destroyed the resort鈥檚 main lodge on Christmas Eve.
鈥淭he amazing neighbours came out in force and took action to save the remaining cabins and structures,鈥� described the owners鈥� granddaughter Samantha Green. 鈥淭hankfully no one was seriously injured, just minor burns.鈥�
Green has set up a which, as of Jan. 4, had raised $7120 to replace the lost belongings and supplies used to run Bill and Traude Hoff鈥檚 resort. A donation account has also been established at the Bulkley Valley Credit Union.
The resort owners told Lakes District 亚洲天堂 they weren鈥檛 sure about the exact cause of the fire, but they suspect it might have been caused by a new heater.
鈥淭he fire didn鈥檛 start in the resort, it started in the water shed,鈥� said Bill. 鈥淲e just had a brand new heater in there and, as far as I know, it was there for four days. There was no heat in the resort, we don鈥檛 live in the resort in the winter.鈥�
Since the resort is not located inside any fire protection areas, the resort owners relied on community members to help put out the fire.
鈥淎ll the neighbours came over to help and we saved the cabins,鈥� said Bill. 鈥淲e had lots of support and lots of help.鈥�
Bill said he鈥檚 confident the resort will reopen in the future.
鈥淎ll we need to do is get an office going and it will be open for business,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e got lots of cleanup to do, but we got a big family and everybody is coming to help.鈥�
In a Facebook post that has been shared hundreds of times, local resident Kelly Holliday said she was sad to see another tragedy striking 亚洲天堂 Lake.
鈥淏ill and Traude Hoff are longtime residents of Babine Lake and in fact live year-round at the resort,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n just a matter of moments, their home and livelihood was left in pile of ash and debris.鈥�
鈥淭he owners are devastated and have lost a good majority of their lives from this tragic event,鈥� Holliday told Lakes District 亚洲天堂, urging local residents to show their support for the family by making a donation.
Donations can be made at any Bulkley Valley Credit Union branch to the Babine Lake Resort fire relief fund.
newsroom@ldnews.net
Like us on and follow us on .
