Expressing gratitude to firefighters with an original song

After being forced from their homes and watching flames creep ever closer, a pair of Wilden residents have crafted a track expressing their gratitude to fire responders.

Mark Fitz wrote the lyrics and melody for the song, while his colleague and fellow evacuee, Sandy Groening, lent her vocal talents.

"The night after we came home from being evacuated, I woke up at around three in the morning, and I had images in my mind of a firefighter and their faces up against a wall flames," Fitz told Kelowna10 at his home.

"I couldn't get that out of my head, thinking about how they put their lives on the line to sacrifice, to save our communities, our homes."

For Groening, the track is an opportunity to express her immense gratitude and thanks to the firefighters and first responders.

When she first read the lyrics, she said they brought tears to her eyes.

"Its been a traumatic experience," she said. "I process a lot of emotion through music. This was a great outlet for me to process some of that trauma."