Raging Wildfire Threatens 40-Year-Old Dream

Tony Capecchi

Writing about fishing is a great way to relive the glory (or process the regret) and, since age 18, Tony Capecchi has been chronicling his angling adventures for national magazines, including In-Fisherman and North American Fisherman. He has co-hosted “Live Outdoors” on WCCO Radio, worked on The History Channel’s “MonsterQuest” and served as web editor for Minnesota Bound and North American Hunter.

resize text
subscribe via RSS

Raging Wildfire Threatens 40-Year-Old Dream

Posted by: Tony Capecchi under Environment, Fishing Updated: September 10, 2012 - 10:26 PM

0
comments
print

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

One year ago––as the raging flames of a historically uncontrollable wildfire encircled Harald and Ann Lohn and torched their family’s Ontario fly-in fishing outpost camps––it looked like today might not arrive. Mother Nature nearly wiped many of the outpost camps at KaBeeLo Lodge off the map.

The fires, the worst to ravage Ontario’s vulnerable wilderness in 50 years, laid siege to 1.6 million acres last summer. Two of KaBeeLo’s 13 outpost camps burnt to the ground, another half dozen were shut down with fishing parties getting evacuated for safety.

The Lohns refused to leave; instead the couple transformed their base lodge into command central for 100 firefighters and worked 20 hours a day to provide food and housing for those risking their lives to squelch the flames.

The Lohns survived. And so today did arrive: the 40th anniversary of the Lohn family running KaBeeLo Lodge.

“Running the lodge is a way of life,” Harald said. “You have to embrace all aspects of the entire operation.”

Harald’s cousin opened KaBeeLo in 1972, running it for a decade before selling it to Ann and Harald, who in a previous life ran the welfare system for the state of Maryland. Today, Harald and Ann can’t image life without KaBeeLo, and neither can their children, who grew up at the lodge and lived there into their young 20s. Their son remains heavily involved with the lodge today; watching his family’s float planes as a teenager inspired him to pursue a career in aviation.

And in the end, it was aviators who helped save KaBeeLo last year when flames tried to claim the now-famous fly-in. A host of planes, as well as 17 helicopters, dumped a staggering 28 million gallons of water on Ontario’s burning woods.

The images are unforgettable, and the Lohns’ dream––however unlikely––remains alive: 40 years … and counting.

Kabeelo Lodge survived the fires to maintain its reputation as one of Canada's finest fly-in lodges. "Kabeelo gets in your blood," says outdoor TV personality Bill Sherck, who makes an annual trip to Kabeelo with his dad. "Harald and Ann are amazing, and Kabeelo is one special place."