Fear rekindled in Ktunaxa Nation community as fire season begins

For Aq'am community members like Pete and Dolly Andrew, the start of fire season in British Columbia is a stark reminder of what they lost last summer. 

"When [the] fire happened, for the first few weeks I just kept having nightmares," said Pete, who with Dolly was one of seven families who lost their homes in the St. Mary River blaze last July.

"I would wake up in my hotel room yelling, 'Help! Help!'"

Downed power lines ignited two different fires on reserve land on July 17, 2023. Driven by strong winds, the flames quickly spread through the Ktunaxa Nation community of Aq'am, around nine kilometres north of Cranbrook, B.C. 

WATCH | First Nation in Kootenays has wildfire fears rekindled: 

More than 50 homes were evacuated that day, and residents remained under an evacuation order for 23 days.  

But the Andrews' ordeal continues, as they move from hotel room to hotel room in Cranbrook while they wait for their home to be rebuilt. 

"We know that we are going to get our house built, we know that much," said Dolly — but added that it could take up to two years. 

The Ktunaxa Nation's ongoing work to help members like Dolly and Pete is one way that wildfires have become a prominent year-round concern for the community, from supporting members to researching and funding prescribed burns in the area.

"This is a process. It's going to take a while to get people back into homes. It's not going to happen immediately," Aq'am Chief Joe Pierre said, adding that people across B.C. are dealing with insurance wait times. 

"Each family is different, so we are trying to support each of them."

The Andrews, for example, are receiving financial assistance from Aq'am. They were gifted a vehicle and a motorhome that they hope to spruce up so they can at least return to their property. 

Dolly said the family lost everything in the fire, with the exception of a few old car parts and, ironically, a fire pit.

"We lost a lot in that fire, things we can never get back," she said.

The St. Mary River fire was officially declared out by the B.C. Wildfire Service in October 2023, having burned a total of 46.4 square kilometres of land. 

While no injuries were reported, Pierre says the mental scars in the community are still very raw. 

Pierre says mental health support, including access to registered nurses and family support workers, is available for the community through the Aq'am Health and Wellness Centre, which was built in 2020. 

"We have folks available for whatever kind of mental health issues that folks might be having," he said. 

But the fear remains, even for Pierre.

"I'm scared for the future, for the young people of this province," he said. 

"If the trends continue going in the direction they're going, we might end up with a time when it's fire season 12 months of the year here in British Columbia." 

Community preparing for another warm, dry season

On a proactive level, Pierre says Aq'am has been working with nearby communities like Cranbrook and Kimberley to establish procedures for emergency preparedness.

It is also working closely with the Regional District of East Kootenay to make sure residents are signed up for evacuation notification systems. 

Pierre says community members are being encouraged to "FireSmart" their homes and Aq'am is working to educate its residents on how to do so. 

He says the lessons learned from last summer include the importance of working together as neighbours, and across the province, to keep people and their homes safe.

"Our neighbours around us came to our aid when we needed it and our community will definitely do the same if that's required of us this summer," he said. 

Prescribed burn funding 

Last April, Aq'am, along with fire crews from nearby communities and the B.C. Wildfire Service, undertook a large-scale, 12-square-kilometre prescribed burn on Aq'am lands north of the St. Mary River and east of the Canadian Rockies International Airport.

The B.C. Wildfire Service said the prescribed burn helped keep the St. Mary River fire at bay, while airport manager Tristen Chernove said last July that it offered "really great protection" to the airport. 

Pierre told CBC News that the burn took four years to plan before it was executed, and more funding is needed for such large-scale projects.

"The regular burning that was done by the Indigenous people in this part of the world, pre-contact times, was interrupted. The whole system was interrupted," he said. 

"This is the reason why here at Aq'am we put a lot of money into that four years of planning … that needs to be done and it needs to be done in that way."