āWhen we were evacuated, the cops came to my house, and⦠Sorry, this is so hard to talk about,ā says Cody Bandsma. āCops came to my house, and I grabbed everything I could. I grabbed picture frames, I grabbed albums. I really didnāt think it was going to go down, so I didnāt grab as much as I shouldāve,ā said Cody, whose house in 105 Mile House burned down.
āItās just all a crater. I donāt know really what to say, it just happened really fast,ā he says. Cody is currently staying in Āé¶¹AV and adds that they had an automotive mechanics shop by the house as well.
Codyās dad Stan Bandsma was on holidays in the Shuswap at the time.
āEvery time I go to think of, Iām gonna go home and grab that thing ⦠itās not there anymore. I was very well set up. I had 1st Stop Auto and it was all set up very nicely. I had every piece of equipment that I needed to do just about anything. I had everything really nice and neat, Iām very picky. Itās very devastating for me.ā
āCody was at home, my son, and he said āWhat do you want me to do?ā So we gave him a list and he went through and took personal things like pictures and albums and stuff like that. He got the Mustang out of there, my show car, a ā73 Mustang Fastback; he got that out of there and another car trailer and he got my Bobcat out of there.
āHe was just working tirelessly until 10 oāclock that night. Just getting stuff out of there and he didnāt think of himself. He didnāt even take any of his own stuff, no clothes, nothing. No sentimental stuff of his own. He was amazing and heās taking it very hard. Itās really rough on him. He was pretty much a one-year-old when we got there and we built everything.
āEverything on that property we had built or rebuilt. There was nothing on that property when we got there. He did an amazing job.ā
The family found out their place had burned down through a picture on Facebook.
āSomeone drove through in the night actually, and showed us a film of him driving through the driveway and it looked like a war zone there. And then someone put a picture in the morning and put it on Facebook at the end of the driveway pointing in and the only thing standing was the 1st Stop Auto Sign,ā he says. āTechnically, I shouldnāt even know my house is burned down.ā
According to Stan, their home is not the only one destroyed.
āThere are other houses that are gone in that area too. I know that because Iāve seen pictures, but I donāt want to say who they are.ā
Stan was overwhelmed with it all.
āIāve lost my business, so I have no way to make an income. That was our total income that we had for our family. I have no way of making an income now and then everything else is gone too,ā he says. āWeāre just gonna hang out in Āé¶¹AV I guess; find a hotel or whatever.ā
Cody says when they can, theyāll go back as a family.
āWhenever weāre weāre allowed in there, weāre gonna go as a family and weāre gonna try and see what we can recover.ā


