A majority of Skwla̓x te Secwepemcúl’ecw band members who did not lose their homes to the Bush Creek East Fire this summer were allowed to return home late last week.

A relieved Kukpi7 James Tomma says it will allow the band to turn its attention to rebuilding the 31 homes that were destroyed by the fire in mid-August.

“We’re hoping we’ll have all the infrastructure in place and everything for the actual rebuild next year,” Tomma told Radio NL. “It’s a little bit of a process but were trying to expedite it as much as can.”

Tomma says the band held a homecoming celebration last week that celebrated their return home almost three months to the date when they were forced to flee.

“I was quite proud and heartfelt to see our people laughing and talking and just being together back home,” Tomma said, noting some in his community refer to Aug. 18 as ‘Black Friday’.

“It showed the resiliency that people can have regardless of the loss and the catastrophe that they’re forced to go through.”

Tomma says some of that more permanent rebuilding work on Skwla̓x te Secwepemcúl’ecw land is expected to get underway next year.

In the meantime, he says band members without homes are still scattered across the area, with some in Kamloops, and others in places like Sorrento and Salmon Arm.

Tomma is hoping to get a temporary housing program for these band members finalized in the spring of next year, allowing these band members to return back to the land they’ve called home.