The former Oamaru man was among 90,000 people evacuated when the huge wildfire spread into the city and while friends had lost homes, his was still standing.
"The clean-up is going to be a bit of a nightmare, but at least we're cleaning up a house and we're not cleaning up ashes,'' he said.
Yesterday, staying with friends in Calgary, Mr Rowland said the kindness others had shown his family was ‘‘a little overwhelming''.
Mr Rowland, his wife Lara and their sons Eddie (10 weeks) and Jack (20 months)
were flown out of northern Alberta to Calgary, in the south of the province, with only two suitcases they managed to pack before leaving everything else behind.
Mr Rowland said he did not sleep the night they spent in the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd work camp and did not "sit down'' until his family was safe in Calgary the next morning.
Turning on the TV, he and his wife saw the wildfire burning houses down and they "just kind of sat there and started crying''.
A daughter of friends in Calgary, Rebecca Brehmer (8), learned about the Rowlands from her parents and next day "told all her school friends''.
The following day her parents arrived at school to collect "a huge crib, high chairs, clothes, toys, so much stuff'' for the young family.
"They brought it around on Friday night. Honestly it was like a pickup truckload of stuff and it was this 8-year-old girl that organised it on her own,'' Mr Rowland said.
"And on Saturday [Rebecca] had organised a movie night at her school and all the money they collected they gave it all to me and my wife.
"That made me cry. A tiny little 8-year-old girl and she brought all this stuff, it was awesome, man ... it was very touching.''
His Invercargill-based sister Kate Rowland yesterday described watching the fire grow out of control.
"We texted him and no reply. And then the mandatory evacuation order came and no reply and nothing on Facebook.''
By the time he replied, he was on the road heading north.
She started a Givealittle page, "Rowland Family Canadian Wildfire Evacuees'', to try to bring the family to New Zealand.
"It's all very well staying with friends and all that, but there's nothing like your family,'' Ms Rowland said.
