Fire threatens community

Page 9

Raging on Kehewin First Nation territory for four days in May, a forest fire brought to light a growing crisis facing Native communities in Alberta, just how ill-equipped they are to deal with forest fire season.

More than 30 per cent of Kehewin's 40-square kilometres, located north of Elk Point, was engulfed in flames between May 16 and 19. While no houses were lost, damage was only kept to a minimum because of the efforts of 100 people, who assisted in damage control.

About half of those helping were untrained residents armed with little more than water pails and shovels.

Kehewin's director of Disaster Services, Leo Gadwa, said the reserve doesn't have an off-road fire vehicle that would have been able to access the more remote hot spots.

"The equipment we have is for small fires and house fires where we can control," Gadwa said. "What we needed was a Jackrabbit that can go into the bushes with a 500-gallon (2,200-litre) tank and go where a regular fire truck can't."

Obtaining additional government funding from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for the equipment has been difficult. Yet, one day after the blaze, Kehewin Fire Chief Gordon Youngchief estimated this four-day battle cost $100,000, the high-end cost of the truck needed.

Kehewin's estimate includes about $20,000 that will be billed by the nearby Bonnyville Fire Department for the use of seven trucks and 140-man hours.

While the provincial government has a disaster relief program in place, Youngchief said money spent on equipment before a disaster occurs is much more beneficial than recovering assistance afterwards.

"They're always pushing for prevention, but where's the money?" asked Youngchief, who has been the reserve's fire chief for nine years. "I was shocked (to learn) what people were doing to help save their houses."

Besides the environment that has made conditions ripe for forest fires in Alberta this spring, Kehewin was also hampered by bad timing. Reserves in Lac La Biche, Saddle Lake and Frog Lake were also fighting their own fires and that sucked dry whatever off-reserve resources that existed.

Other municipal and district fire services such as St. Paul's were dispatched elsewhere, while water bombers operated by the provincial Ministry of Sustainable Resources were kept in Lac La Biche to thwart a blaze that continues to threaten to destroy the community of Conklin.

It wasn't as if phone calls weren't made to get additional help for Kehewin. Fire Prevention Co-ordinator for the Tribal Chiefs Association of North East Alberta, Don Padlesky, recognizes how vulnerable Kehewin and other reserves are during forest fire season.

"With all of the fires in the province, we couldn't even get an extra broom," Padlesky said.

Meanwhile, just across the border in Onion Lake, 80 kilometres to the east in Saskatchewan, that province was able to send two water bombers and a heli-bomber to contain a blaze threatening that reserve's 3,000 residents.

Padlesky, Gadwa and Youngchief collectively believe the cause of many fires is the carelessness of individuals when setting their own fires. Under these arid conditions it is inexcusable, they said, to create needless fires such as burning lawn in order to get a fresh growth of green grass.

"I've had 30 fires since April and 90 per cent have resulted in a loss of control because people are not equipped to contain a blaze," Youngchief said.

At a minimum, he insisted, there must be enough water and shovels to extinguish any man-made fires.

What frustrates Padlesky though is how difficult it is to enforce any existing by-laws. He said unless there is a total fire ban across the province, First Nations are left to regulate themselves.

"Each band that tries to put on a fire ban has a problem because they almost have to catch the person setting a fire and prove it was arson (to lay charges)," Padlesky said.

It is speculated Kehewin's fire started off-reserve almost a week before the flames endanered reserve property. Even on the Thursday during a 12-hour shift, Youngchief was convinced the blaze was under control.

"We had extra men all night performing fire mop-up. On Friday I drove around looking for hot spots, but with the winds (up to 50 km/h) by 10 in the morning, there were fires all over," said Youngchief, adding a spark can easily jump fireguards such as pre-burnt grass and tilled land.

While Kehewin can count its blessings there weren't more losses during this emergency, Gadwa really hopes the message will be learned about how susceptible reserves are to forest fires.

"We can't just throw a match and walk away. We don't have the equipment or the manpower to get this under control," he said.