Ruth Hall, daughter of Shirley Bogh, tried to fit what she had to say about all the wonderful people in Prince George in a letter to the editor but just couldn’t cram it all into 400 words.
Hall lives in Calgary and her mum, Bogh, is a long-time resident at Boardwalk Apartments.
When that fire alarm went off in the building on Killoren Crescent about 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 22, Bogh couldn't hear it.
There was a lot of concern about Bogh among the residents who had to escape the fire because so many of them knew her.
“Yes, she’s the deaf and nearly blind lady everyone was concerned about,” Hall said.
“That morning I received a text from my cousin who lives in Prince George and she told me she was sorry about the fire so I went to The Prince George Citizen on my phone — I read it every day — and then my cousin told me they couldn’t find my mum. So it took me about an hour and a half — I phoned the hospital, they didn’t have any information on the people who were sent to the hospital, and I explained my scenario and I finally found her in emergency and my understanding is that people found her in the hallway of the apartment building and carried her out.”
Hall said her mum’s apartment was destroyed.
“And she was left with only her nightgown and her faith,” she said.
Boardwalk Apartments was built in five sections with firewalls separating each section. Sections one and two were destroyed.
Bogh’s apartment was in the second section up against the firewall.
“And it’s toast,” Hall said.
“When we went to the residents’ meeting my tiny 95-year-old mother said ‘What about me? What about my apartment?’ and the look on the adjuster’s face when he had to tell her they can’t get in there. There’s nothing left. And she said ‘what about my lock box? My dolls? My brand new La-Z-Boy chair?' And there’s nothing left and it’s heartbreaking. The sympathy on the adjuster’s face, yeah, I almost cried.”
People deal with this type of circumstance in different ways and Ruth believes everything happens for a reason.
“My dad always said God put mountains in front of us to climb because they make us stronger,” Hall said.
“When bad things happen you just need to breathe and look around for the light so some good can come from tragedy if we just look hard enough and for me the way the people of Prince George pulled together — that’s the good, that’s the light.”
Here are parts of her letter:
“As I arrived in Prince George from Calgary I was met with an outpouring of empathy, compassion, kindness and support. I really feel the need to thank relatives, friends and strangers who pitched in to ease the trauma. To the firefighters who put their own safety on the line to save my mother, who had to be carried down from the fourth floor to safety — you saved her life and I cannot thank you enough. To the emergency workers, especially Pat who phoned me to tell me my mum was OK and all the people who worked so hard in that organization to get the help that we all needed — thank you.”
Hall said Northern Health was outstanding as well as those who helped arrange for Bogh’s accommodation after release from hospital.
“The nursing staff at the hospital were tremendously helpful and kind and understanding about the situation my mum found herself in,” Hall wrote.
“I apologize about all the yelling until we secured temporary hearing aids for my mum. We had to yell in the hospital and it was bad. To the businesses who went above and beyond, like the Prince George Hearing Centre who gave her free temporary hearing aids and FYI who put a rush on her glasses and hand delivered them to her. To the pharmacist at Save-On-Foods that got my mum everything she needed. And to the BC Access Centre who went out of their way to ensure all the residents who required ID got it as they start to rebuild their lives.”
Hall went on to thank all her relatives for their continued support to get her mum settled in her temporary accommodation.
“As I ran around I encountered people who showed empathy and gave me hugs,” Hall said.
“Thank you to the gentleman who started the gofundme page and all the citizens of Prince George who were so helpful, take a bow. You’ve earned it.”
