The death of logger John Joe Phare on the fourth day of the Old Sechelt Mine fire was a tragedy that personally touched many Sunshine Coast people. It was a devastating loss for his family and a huge blow to his co-workers and wide circle of friends.
Even those who didn’t know John were shocked by his sudden death and many have expressed their deep gratitude for the sacrifice he made on July 5, when he was fatally struck by a falling tree while helping fight the Sechelt fire.
That debt, it turns out, was more real than they imagined.
At last Saturday’s Celebration of Life in Gibsons, John’s niece Laura Bolster read a letter written to John’s fiancée Kimiko Hawkes by Pete Laing, who was incident commander during the critical first week of the fire.
In the letter, Laing assured Kimiko that “John did not suffer and everything that could be done to revive him was.” Then he went on to explain how firefighters rely on the expertise of coastal tree fallers to provide a safe environment by removing danger trees and opening paths to the fire.
“In John’s last days, his hard work and leadership on the fire were key in helping gain control of the fire perimeter,” Laing wrote. “Before the accident, John and his crew allowed the firefighters to get into the fire where it was threatening life and property of local residents. Without these efforts, the fire would likely have spread to homes located south and east of the fire.”
In its first days, the Sechelt fire had grown from two hectares to 250 hectares, but it was held to a distance of about two kilometres north of Sechelt and west of Sechelt Inlet until controlled burning led to 100 per cent containment after two gruelling weeks. What Laing’s letter told the almost 1,000 people in Gibsons arena last Saturday is that without John Phare’s contribution to the effort, the outcome could have been catastrophic for Sechelt.
So, to call John a hero is not hyperbole. It’s an absolute fact.
“In my mind, what happened is no different to a soldier giving his life in a war,” one mourner said after the ceremony.
Sechelt owes John Phare a tremendous debt. His friends and loved ones will never forget who he was, but future generations on the Sunshine Coast should know what he did. The man literally deserves a monument.
