First Nation loses homes in wildfire near Cranbrook, B.C., Eby says

The Canadian Press
Wed, July 19, 2023 


VANCOUVER — A First Nation community in southeastern B.C. has lost homes because of a fast-moving wildfire, and Premier David Eby says the provincial and federal governments are teaming up to provide emergency response.

Officials have not yet confirmed how many people or homes have been affected on the Aq'am First Nation near Cranbrook, however Chief Joe Pierre told the CBC several homes have been lost in the fire.

The BC Wildfire Service says the St. Mary's River fire was human-caused, is eight square kilometres in size and is considered out of control.

The Regional District of East Kootenay issued an evacuation order on Monday for 52 homes, and another 43 properties remain on evacuation alert.

Eby says the provincial and federal governments will help the First Nation with the eventual rebuilding and recovery process.

He says his government is also focusing on partnering with Indigenous people and firefighters to provide a more "prompt" and "effective response" to wildfires.

Hundreds of wildfires are burning in the province, fuelled by tinder-dry conditions promoted by weeks of drought.

A record has already been set for the total area burned in a year with about 14,000 square kilometres scorched across B.C., breaking the milestone established in 2018.

Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma told a news conference Tuesday that 75 military members were heading to Burns Lake, in central B.C., to help in the firefight.

They join 75 others who were sent to nearby Vanderhoofas part of a federal response to the record-setting season.

Ma said about 150 people in B.C. are under evacuation orders due to the wildfires as of Tuesday, while about 3,400 people are on alert and must be ready to leave at short notice.

Hot weather continues to blanket much of the province, with a heat warning issued by Environment Canada for the Fraser Canyon in southern B.C. where temperatures will reach 35 C with overnight lows near 18 C through to Friday.

Special air quality statements have also been issued by the forecaster for a large portion of the province as wildfire smoke makes breathing difficult and reduces visibility.

BC Wildfire Service officials have said the season has not yet hit its peak and this season's drought could roll into next year, potentially igniting an early start to the 2024 fire season.

A provincial drought bulletin shows 18 of the province's 34 water basins are at drought Level 4, meaning harm to ecosystems and communities is likely, while four more are at the highest Level 5.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2023.

Canadian wildfires hit Indigenous communities hard, threatening their land and culture

The Canadian Press
Wed, July 19, 2023 


EAST PRAIRIE METIS SETTLEMENT, Alberta (AP) — Carrol Johnston counted her blessings as she stood on the barren site where her home was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire that forced her to flee her northern Alberta community two months ago.

Her family escaped unharmed, though her beloved cat, Missy, didn't make it out before a “fireball” dropped on the house in early May. But peony bushes passed down from her late mother survived and the blackened May Day tree planted in memory of her longtime partner is sending up new shoots — hopeful signs as she prepares to start over in the East Prairie Métis Settlement, about 240 miles (385 kilometers) northwest of Edmonton.

“I just can’t leave,” said Johnston, 72, who shared a home with her son and daughter-in-law. “Why would I want to leave such beautiful memories?”

The worst wildfire season in Canadian history is displacing Indigenous communities from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, blanketing them in thick smoke, destroying homes and forests and threatening important cultural activities like hunting, fishing and gathering native plants.

Thousands of fires have scorched more than 42,000 square miles (110,00 square kilometers) across the country so far. On Tuesday, almost 900 fires were burning— most of them out of control — according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre website.

Fires aren’t uncommon on Indigenous lands, but they’re now occurring over such a widespread area that many more people are experiencing them at the same time — and some for the first time — stoking fears of what a hotter, drier future will bring, especially to communities where traditions run deep.

“I've never seen anything like this,” said Raymond Supernault, chairman of the East Prairie Métis Settlement, where he said more than 85% of the 129-square-mile (334-square-kilometer) settlement burned in the first wildfire there in over 60 years. Fourteen houses and 60 other structures were destroyed by the intense, fast-moving fire that led to the evacuation of almost 300 people and decimated forested land.

“In blink of eye, we lost so much … it was devastating. I can't stress that enough,” said Supernault, who said he hasn't seen any elk or moose, both important food sources, since the fire.

“We don’t just jump in the car and go to the IGA,” for groceries, Supernault said. “We go to the bush.”

In Canada, 5% of the population identifies as Indigenous — First Nation, Métis or Inuit — with an even smaller percentage living in predominantly Indigenous communities. Yet more than 42% of wildfire evacuations have been from communities that are more than half Indigenous, said Amy Cardinal Christianson, an Indigenous fire specialist with Parks Canada.

As of last week, almost 23,000 people from 75 Indigenous settlements have had to evacuate this year, according to Indigenous Services Canada. More than 3,600 people from 15 First Nations reserves in five provinces were evacuated as of Thursday, the agency said.

It’s not uncommon for Indigenous communities to evacuate repeatedly, Christianson said. A recent analysis of the Canadian Wildland Fire Evacuation database found that 16 communities were evacuated five or more times from 1980–2021 — all but two of them First Nations reserves, said Christianson, who participated in the analysis by the Canadian Forest Service.

Fires now “are so dangerous and so fast-moving" that evacuations increasingly are necessary, a challenge in some remote communities where there might be one road in, or no roads at all, said Christianson, who is Métis.

Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and fire chief in Red Deer, Alberta — a province where about 7,600 square miles (19,800 square kilometers) have already burned, compared to just over 695 square miles (1,800 square kilometers) in all of 2022 — said some places burning again this year haven't fully recovered from previous fires.

“It’s going to take a long time,” said McMullen, calling it the worst fire season in Canadian history. “These are life-altering events.”

Christianson said the effects will be felt for generations, because the intense heat is burning the soil and making it difficult for trees and other plants to regenerate.

She said Indigenous communities are increasingly vulnerable because they're often left out of decisions about forest management and fire response, and often can't afford to hire emergency managers. What's more, when fires affect urban centers at the same time, fire suppression shifts to larger communities.

Indigenous communities “really want to be leaders in managing fires in their territory,” including a return to preventive burning that was long suppressed by the government, said Christianson.

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake in northern Quebec evacuated in June because of heavy smoke from wildfires that came within 9 miles (15 kilometers) of and almost surrounded the reserve where about 350 to 400 people live, often miles apart, said Chief Casey Ratt, who never experienced a forest fire before this year.

“Last year, me and my wife were talking about how many fires there were in Alberta, then boom! There were so many in Quebec this year,” said Ratt. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, now we’re dealing with wildfires like they are out west.’”

But it also wasn’t a total surprise, said Ratt, because summer heat is more intense and ice forms later in the winter and melts faster in the spring. That diminishes their ability to ice-fish and hunt for moose and beaver, which often requires crossing a lake to an island.

“Something is happening,” said Ratt, who believes climate change is largely to blame. “I think this will be the norm moving forward.”

The biggest concern is whether cultural traditions that have been passed down from generations of elders will survive into the future, said Supernault, from the East Prairie Métis Settlement.

“Our earth is changing ... and our traditional way of life is now put on hold,” said Supernault. “You can't put a price on culture and traditional loss.”

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Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan.

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Tammy Webber And Noah Berger, The Associated Press