B.C. family rebuilds decades-old resort destroyed by wildfire [Video]

A decades-old resort in B.C.’s Fraser Valley is welcoming guests back, eight months after the uninsured site was decimated by the Kookipi Creek wildfire.

Bryan Fogelman, the owner of REO Rafting and Yoga Resort in Boston Bar, says it cost roughly $450,000 to rebuild the family-run business—a quarter of which was paid through donations.

“We received a lot of support from clients who visited us from Europe, the United States, all over,” the 67-year-old explains. “This isn’t just a small little local business; we’ve had a positive impact on over 120,000 people from around the world and they showed some support from us, which was great,” Fogelman adds, noting the resort has led to dozens of marriages—including his own.

His family was desperate for financial help because the resort hadn’t been insured for fires in years, due to its remote location in the Nahatlatch River area.

That’s where the Kookipi …