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Months after the wildfires, however, they have re-opened despite warnings. The Cedars Inn, owned by Christina Lepore and her husband Dan O’Connor, is also in the evacuation zone. The order was initially issued for one week, but determining the stability of the slope has proved challenging, and it has been renewed every week since early September. The village was heeding the advice of provincial officials when it made the difficult choice to issue the order, said Colborne. Lepore and O'Connor were preparing to re-open the inn when they got the notice that it was within the evacuation zone. There was relief, but also the sense a longer ordeal was ahead. The fire crept within metres of their home, but eventually, rain arrived and helped crews put it out, without any damage to properties. You could see it straight through the trees," he said. O'Connor stayed behind, spending hours hosing down the deck of the inn to douse embers that were floating down from the fire.ĭown the street, Felix Michael watched the fire burn from the backyard of the brown bungalow shares with his wife Rose-Ann. Months after the fire, Christina Lepore and her husband Dan O’Connor decided to take their chances and move back into their house, even though it's still under an evacuation order.

Lepore went to stay with family in another town when thick smoke made breathing difficult.

Lepore and O'Connor sent their guests home and closed down. "It sounded like a war zone … it was like living in a jet engine," O'Connor said of the intense sound of the fire in the trees behind the inn.

But it wasn't long before the fire gained steam and started burning along the towering mountainside above the village. The fireĪt first, a few trees smouldered and smoked. The business thrived, until life in the village was turned upside down by the wildfire. Lepore and her husband Dan O'Connor bought the village's only hotel in 2003 to put up guests for their growing kayak and wildlife tour business.įor years, tour groups have come from as far away as Europe to experience the untouched nature that surrounds Zeballos. "It's quiet, it's got fresh air, it's got beautiful scenery," said resident Christina Lepore, noting that some find the lack of cellphone coverage awkward, but others find it refreshing. With a population of 107 people, Zeballos is the smallest municipality in B.C.