A scuffed Santa-shaped salt shaker, a gnome that resembles a charcoal briquette and a small peach dish are all that’s left of Heather MacKay’s former six-bedroom house in south-central British Columbia.
MacKay’s home in West Kelowna, about 260 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, was one of dozens of properties torched by the McDougall Creek wildfire, which ripped through nearly 140 square kilometres of land last year.
Since then, the trinkets have become treasures and they are among the items to be featured in a New York exhibit next week, which aims to show world leaders at the UN the impact and damage that climate change is having on people’s lives.
The B.C. hairstylist said the trinkets were worth about $20 combined, but she treats them like they’re worth millions now because of the sentimental value of what they represent.