Cat lost during wildfire evacuations reunited with owner 4 months later

It's been four long months for wildfire evacuee Megan Peach.

Peach, 52, was evacuated from 150 Mile House in July when a wildfire was threatening the town. She and her family ended up three hours away at Sun Peaks, where they were offered a condo to stay in during the evacuation. Hamish, her seven-year-old orange tabby cat, jumped off the condo balcony and ran off. 

"We searched for months," she said. "We were up there every day shaking the treats, hiking the trails, and then we started getting pictures of Hamish sightings."

Peach returned home in September, but Hamish had not been found.

"I had to put my senior dog down during the evacuation, and I think Hamish leaving at the same time just put me over the edge," Peach said. 

"He's one of the family."

Hamish sightings became frequent around town, and residents were posting photos of him to a local Facebook group. Each time Peach learned someone had seen her cat, she'd return to Sun Peaks to resume the search. She says sometimes she would see him, and he would see her, but he wouldn't approach her.

Eventually, the cat was captured by a Sun Peaks resident, Tim Reid. He was unable to care for the cat, as he had pets of his own, so he put out a call on a Sun Peaks Facebook group for someone to take care of him until they could reunite the cat with his owner. 

Fellow Sun Peaks resident Robin Kierstead agreed to give Hamish a temporary home, and took care of Hamish in anticipation of returning him to Peach.

"I am so excited for [Megan] because I have a cat of my own, I can't imagine what she's been going through for the past few months."

Peach and her cat were reunited Monday.

"I'm just flabbergasted that we've got him." she said. "I can't believe it. I didn't think I was ever going to get him back."

With files from Doug Herbert