Without the 鈥渋ncredible鈥� efforts of B.C. Wildfire Service crews the manger of does not believe facility would still be standing.
At one point last week flames from the Eagle Bluff wildfire got to within less than a half kilometre of SORCO and next door neighbour Burrowing Owl Conservation Society鈥檚 pens.
And it was only those firefighters who stood between the wildlife centres and the rapidly advancing flames.
鈥淗onestly I can鈥檛 thank them (fire crews) enough, they were the ones who saved us, there was nothing we could do, we were in their hands,鈥� said Dale Belvedere who has been at the centre for 11 years, the last four as manager. 鈥淲hen we saw them come down from fighting the fire their faces were completely black, all you could see were their eyes and their lips.
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鈥淚 personally have the most incredible respect for them and I know the whole SORCO family has so much respect for them.鈥�
For over a week crews have been going back and fourth through the Nature鈥檚 Trust SORCO property to get access to the nearby fire.
While all of the birds from both her centre and Burrow Owl were moved Sunday after the evacuation notice was issued, Belvedere decided to remain behind.
It was Tuesday evening when she saw exactly the dangers the men and women fighting the fire were facing.
鈥淭here were about 12 of them hiking up the mountain to fight it and then all of a sudden the helicopter went in and brought them all down,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when the whole mountain exploded in flames on the south side, obviously they knew then it was going to ignite and they got them out of there within a minute, it was just craziness what we were seeing.
鈥淣ow every time they come down I make a point of going out there and thanking them.鈥�
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Belvedere also credited the work of the aircraft pilots who she said were flying up to 14 hours a day.
鈥淎s long as they had the light and wind in their favour they weren鈥檛 stopping unless they had to,鈥� she said.
Along with verbally thanking the crews, Belvedere has put up a hand-written sign at the property鈥檚 entry and exit points the firefighters pass by on their way to and from the fire.
The evacuation notice has since been lifted and as of Monday SORCO, located on the west side of the highway west of Vaseux Lake, was back in business for now at least.
Houdini, SORCO鈥檚 resident great horned owl was the first one to return home.
鈥淚t was just so strange not having the birds to feed,鈥� said Belvedere, who admitted being in tears at one point. 鈥淪ince I鈥檝e been here there鈥檚 never been a time when we were empty like this, I mean you always hear the birds squawking and there was nothing, it鈥檚 just really, really hard to explain.鈥�
SORCO has nursed thousands of raptors back to health and released them back into the wild during it鈥檚 existence.
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