Charlie Lake students thank BCWS firefighters

CHARLIE LAKE, B.C. — A group of Charlie Lake Elementary School students showed their appreciation to BC Wildfire Service firefighters on Thursday for their work keeping their community safe.

Cara McCabe, a kindergarten teacher at the elementary school, thought it was important to thank the crews working in the area because of the impact the wildfires had on the community over the past few weeks.

“To make sure that they knew how much we appreciated the fact that all of their hard work kept so many others safe,” McCabe said.

The firefighters are staying near the community hall in tents and temporary structures while working on fires in the area.

The students and some teachers walked over to the community hall to thank the firefighters. McCabe says she then walked into the main building the firefighters were using to thank them.

“[I] let them know that we were there from the school, and we just wanted to thank [them] for all the hard work,” McCabe said.

She says every BC Wildfire Service member on-site came outside to meet the students and teachers.

“We were able to thank them, we gave them a big round of applause for all their hard work,” McCabe said. “Then we shared homemade goodies and thank you cards with them.”

McCabe says she came up with the idea to teach the students about gratitude and kindness.

“Just being aware of how kind things make other people feel but also how it makes us feel in our own hearts to do those kind things,” McCabe said.

The kindergarten teacher says some firefighters had tears in their eyes while the students expressed their gratitude.

“The impact was felt, and that’s what we really wanted to do,” McCabe said.

No evacuation orders are in place, though alerts remain active in areas due to the wildfires of the North Peace Complex.