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Officials provide details on ʔaq’am fire
The people of ʔaq’am community are tired.
Nasuʔkin (Chief) Joe Pierre Jr. and officials helping battle the St. Mary wildfire this afternoon provided detailed updates on the now 850 hectares fire that has destroyed seven homes.
“This morning I woke up very, very tired. My community is very, very tired. We’ve been dealing with the situation now the last couple of days. We have approximately 95% of the community evacuated or on alert right now. We have many, many people out of their homes and we’ve been able to work with the agencies that come in and help to place people and so the last couple of days a large portion of my community has had to be elsewhere out of their homes and I know that folks in the community are getting very tired,” Chief Pierre stated.
“But I do know, too, that we still have a lot in front of us. We have lost several homes in the community but I want folks to understand that when I say that, we are a small community and we’ve lost seven dwellings in the community, which actually translates to just a little over 10% of the homes in my community. So it is quite devastating and we do have folks that know and understand that their home is gone,” he said.
Chief Pierre said the community at large is reaching out and asking what they can do to help but because of the still early stage of this firefight, he asks people hold off for a week or so.
“I really, really do appreciate that offer for the help. We appreciate the offer for the help but currently we are actually starting to be overwhelmed with stuff. And we really do appreciate the stuff but it is starting to overwhelm us,” he said.
“We do need help. If there are things you would like to donate, maybe you could hold onto it until maybe next week when we have a better handle on what we are going to be doing with all that stuff.”
Chief Pierre praised ʔaq’am staff and thanked service organizations that have stepped forward to help.
“It is amazing to me right now how well my team has been handling this. Again, they’re very tired as well but everybody has pulled together and we’re working together, especially with all of the services. We’re just so grateful to all the services that have been here in the community,” he said, singling out Meant 2 B Loved, which has aided significantly in helping with peoples’ pets.
Driven by strong winds and tinder-dry conditions, the fire exploded Monday afternoon after downed power lines ignited nearby grasses.
Due to the ongoing active fire and safety hazards, the full extent of the damage is not yet known.
Several roads within ʔaq’am remain closed and Pierre is urging all residents to respect the closures.
“It is absolutely critical that people stay out of the closed areas. While we recognize people want to see the effects of the fire, it is extremely dangerous within the fire zone. In addition to the risk from the active fire itself, there are danger trees and other hazards and people need to stay out. We are also asking the public to stay out of the area to provide the BC Wildfire Service and responding crews full and unimpeded access.”
Fifty-two homes in ʔaq’am remain on Evacuation Order, with a further 10 on reserve on Evacuation Alert. Thirty-three properties in the surrounding area also remain on Evacuation Alert, including Fort Steele Heritage Town.
An Emergency Support Services (ESS) team has been on site since Monday supporting evacuees and an ESS Reception Centre is set up for evacuees and for a safe space for the community to come together. ʔaq’am is working closely with both the BC Wildfire Service and Regional District of East Kootenay as the priority will be to lift Evacuation Orders and Alerts as soon as it is deemed safe to do so.
City of Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services (CFES) is working together with BC Wildfire Service crews on structure defense and structure protection.
Cranbrook Fire & Emergency Services Fire Chief Scott Driver said his firefighters have been engaged in the battle since about 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon.
Before outlining what his team has been doing since the start of the fire, Fire Chief Driver took a moment to reach out to ʔaq’am Community and thank his firefighters for their efforts.
“On behalf of myself and my team, I sincerely wish to thank the community for the trust given us,” he said, his voice cracking. “And share that we are absolutely heart-broken for the loss that your community has experienced.”
The fire was initially “very, very challenging for staff and certainly for the community members who were trying to find a safe way out and couldn’t use the road they generally use,” Driver said.
Establishing egress was an early priority, with the aid of BC Hydro crews clearing up the downed powerlines, which ignited the two fires that become one massive one.
Once the lines were cleared, firefighters, including some from the Kimberley Fire Department began assessing structure support and defence.
“At that time it was very obvious there were multiple structures involved in fire and many more structures that were very close to being involved in fire.”
Chief Driver added, “I just want to say that I am really proud of my staff for the work that they did and their ability to have a positive impact in a really, really terrible day. We were able to save homes and we were able to get the community out safely and that was our main goal.”
He also thanked the RCMP for helping in the evacuation function, doing a second check on all the homes in the community “under some pretty significant fire conditions and they did a very good job and were able to confirm the evacuation of the residents in the community.”
BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) Incident Commander Daniel Klein expressed condolences to community residents.
“It’s hard to see people go through that,” he said.
He noted BCWS’s appreciation of the “collaboration” between numerous activated parties, including local fire departments, ʔaq’am, BC Hydro, CP Rail, RDEK, Canadian Rockies International Airport and other service agencies.
Heavy equipment and ground crews have been working overnight since Monday on establishing control lines. Ground crews are patrolling for spot fires along the St. Mary’s and Kootenay Rivers and are prepared to suppress as needed.
Airtankers are supporting ground crews by reinforcing control lines with retardant. A skimmer group and heavy lift helicopter are assigned and will be using nearby water sources as needed.
On Tuesday, Klein said, “there was a recognition that this was going to be something that was going to be multiple days, that we were going to be in for a sustained amount of time.
“In the first 48 hours our primary focus is ensuring life, property and critical infrastructure are protected and we are expanding our organizational structure to make sure that we are bringing in enough support and enough expertise to manage this incident effectively.”
By the end of today, he said, there will be about 100 personnel engaged in the fire fight.
“Right now, our main objective continues to be structure protection and defense.”
Most of the recent growth of the wildfire is to the north, moving away from properties, Klein said.
Eight to 10 pieces of heavy equipment, with more incoming, are starting to push control lines up the west flank of the fire, off Upper Mission Road “and using existing roads and natural features to try and tie into the Kootenay River on the east flank. We’ve had a number of options to be able to do that,” Klein said
Fire behaviour has died down around residences, though there are still spot fires and smouldering, he said.
Christina Carbrey, Regional Emergency Operations Centre Director, said 95 people have reached out for support services, with more coming.
“Emergency Support Services have been extended through next Thursday (July 27),” she said, thanking all response agencies.
“It’s been a really trying time but there has been a lot of tremendous collaboration and working together. We’ll be working with ʔaq’am in the coming days and weeks and help them with this response and into a recovery period and support them through the devastating impacts that ʔaq’am is facing right now.”
At this time no casualties have been reported from residents or firefighters.
Chief Pierre said most pets have been accounted for, though a few are still in some homes.
“We’ve been able to feed and water pets with the assistance of the RCMP. Very grateful for that help. We have a few horses that are likely to be relocated today and then we do have some cattle out there as well and will likely just stay out there and fend for themselves.”
Pierre also reported the prescribed burn held in ʔaq’am in the spring did its job.
“It was doing what we wanted it to do,” he said.
Fire Chief Driver concurred.
“From my perspective as the Fire Chief of Cranbrook, responsible for the homes is that I can say that the work that was done during the prescribed burn and from the five years it took to put that job together, absolutely has alleviated a lot of concerns in my mind,” he said.
“We were not concerned about the north flank (of the fire) running away on us in that direction toward those homes, so there has been a significant easing of concern with respect to the fire moving in that direction. I can speak to the benefits of prescribed fire and am in full support of us doing more of that type of work. I think it’s allowed us some breathing room and to focus on some of the areas to the north and to the east that we haven’t yet done a prescribed fire on.”
As for concerns about the fire jumping the Kootenay River, Incident Commander Klein said, “it is certainly a concern.”
However, ongoing monitoring is occurring, including CP Rail conducting patrols with fire trains between Cranbrook and Wasa.
Until firefighters can contain the northeast corner of the fire, “that will remain a risk,” Klein said. “But we are constantly monitoring and making sure we are resourced appropriately to monitor it and be prepared to respond.”
The BC Wildfire Service will be providing daily fire updates on the Wildfire of Note page on www.bcwildfire.ca.
Lead image: A huge column of smoke billows above ʔaq’am from the St. Mary Wildfire July 19. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW photos
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
