Dusty McKinnon had big dreams for the Adventure Ranch.
Two years ago, he and an investor purchased the Pemberton property and, along with making it McKinnon’s new home, opened a hostel and started filling the farm with animals—pigs, a cow, chickens, turkeys, some rescue horses. And he started an organic garden.
“It was paradise,” he said. “We called it Pemberdise. It was so awesome.”
Last winter and over the summer, the hostel was at capacity with seasonal workers. It was set to be full again this winter with COVID-19 safety protocols in place, he said.
“Summer was finished. I was just getting people in the house for winter rentals—we had eight guests; [four were here and] four more on the way. I was going to keep it to a max of 10,” McKinnon said.
But on Oct. 22, everything changed.
One of the women staying in the hostel heard a “pop” and saw smoke coming out of the garage. She called McKinnon who was on his way back from a trip to the city.
“We have sliding glass doors in the staff suite, so I went and bought new doors,” he said. “It was my final task for the winter.”
When he got the call he pulled over.
“I said, ‘Are you able to grab any fire extinguishers and put it out?’ She said, ‘It’s too much smoke,’” McKinnon recalled.
Instead, the woman called 911 and began moving vehicles away from the burning property as quickly as she could—but not before heading into the hostel to bang on doors and make sure everyone was out.
The Pemberton Fire Department was on scene at the Airport Road property in minutes, but the ground floor was already engulfed in flames.
When McKinnon arrived back home, he quickly got to work making phone calls in an effort to house the eight people staying in the hostel who were now homeless.
“By Day 1, that evening, they all had homes—places to go that were warm and safe,” he said. “I was able to give them their money back for rent and damage [deposits] and set them up to the next stage. I took it upon myself to make sure they were good until the end of November.”
(There was also a quick trip to the Re-Use-It Centre to collect jackets and hoodies. Nearly all of the belongings of people staying in the hostel had burned.)
The next task, after the fire was finally declared out, was finding homes for the farm animals.
“It’s pretty crazy, but the people up in the Meadows who I bought the cow from bought the cow back from me,” McKinnon said. “[And] she took the pigs.”
He also had two mares and two foals that he had trained from a wild herd (in the hopes they wouldn’t get pregnant year after year).
“The saddest thing—I lost my house, I lost my dreams, but the harshest thing was putting the horses back into the trailer and releasing them back into the herd,” he said. “As beautiful as it is, those horses get hit by cars every year. It’s unsustainable.”
As for the house itself, in a strange twist, McKinnon discovered his bedroom was virtually untouched by the flames, although most of the items are smoke damaged. (Something he likes to think might be due to the protective crystals he placed in the four corners of the room.)
While his business had insurance that covered the hostel, he didn’t have tenant insurance to cover his own belongings. He estimates he lost about $150,000 on personal items.
While it’s a huge loss, in the end, McKinnon said he’s grateful no one was hurt and is blown away by how quickly the community stepped up to help.
“Thank you to the community for stepping up and helping with the animals and the people,” he said. “No one was hurt and it’s our intention to build and come back better than ever.”
Rebuilding the original structure is unlikely, but McKinnon said he’s brainstorming other ideas like cabins or tiny homes.
For now, he’s stepped back into his old life, living in his White Rock townhouse and working as a consultant.
“I’m trying my hardest to keep a foot on the ground there,” he said.
Meanwhile, McKinnon has set up a GoFundMe to help with recovery. Find it at gofundme.com by searching Adventure Ranch Fire Recovery.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
