Skip to content

New quilts for fire victims

Delee Whitwell says her 18-year-old daughter Sarah is her true hero.
9036165_web1_171025-WLT-QuiltPickup_1
Miocence Fire Hall deputy chief Norm Leslie shows Delee Whitwell and her daughter Sarah the donated quilts. Paige Mueller photos

Delee Whitwell says her 18-year-old daughter Sarah is her true hero.

Whitwell and her husband were on a cruise when the wildfires hit Williams Lake this summer. Their family home on Prospector Road was one of the very first to go up in flames on that fateful Friday night, July 7, according to Whitwell.

Daughter Sarah was able to grab the dog, the safe, the computer and her father’s work truck before fleeing her home, leaving everything else behind. She said since her parents were in the “middle of the ocean” at the time, they were very hard to get a hold of.

On Saturday, the Whitwells were able to start rebuilding their sense of home with help from members of the Horsefly Quilters Club. Quilter Lainie Pawlik delivered 24 handmade quilts to Miocene Fire Hall deputy chief Norm Leslie for people who lost their homes in the fires and are now trying to rebuild on Oct. 21.

Leslie opened the fire hall on Saturday to victims of the fires and was able to give out a total of 13 adult quilts and one youth quilt.

The Whitwells sifted through the quilts, looking for ones that would match the colours for their new home and Pawlik said that this was one of the reasons the quilting club started the project in the first place.

“People need some comfort, they need some quilts,” said Pawlik. “If you’re an artist you paint, and if you’re a quilter you sew. That’s just what we do.”

Pawlik said the overall goal was to provide some small comfort to people who have lost everything and for the families who visited the fire hall on Saturday, it seemed like that effort was truly appreciated.



paige.mueller@wltribune.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

9036165_web1_171025-WLT-QuiltPickup_3
Sarah and mom, Delee Whitwell discover a hidden letter in a quilt donated by the Horsefly Quilters Club for victims of the summer’s wildfires.