State of emergency continues

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The Provincial Emergency Program, operated by the Ministry of Public Safety and the Solicitor General, was reporting 352 active fires Aug. 11 in the central region of the province around Kamloops. An evacuation order for the Bonaparte Plateau region on Highway 5 remained Aug. 12, with 80 to 100 non-residents under order to evacuate. Province-wide, on Aug. 12, 24 evacuation alerts remained in effect.

In the northeast region around Prince George and Williams Lake, there were no evacuation orders or alerts by Aug. 12, although 119 fires still were active.

The southeast region around Nelson likewise had no evacuation orders or alerts by Aug. 12, although 303 fires were still active.

Less than a week earlier, there were 6,700 evacuees across the province, most from the McLure/Barriere/Lewis Creek and Rayleigh/Strawberry Hill areas, but the majority were allowed to return to their homes by Aug. 11 even though the total number of active fires had increased.

On Aug. 6, Chief Nathan Matthew, chairman of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council (Adams Lake Band, Bonaparte Band, Kamloops Band, Neskonlith Band, North Thompson Band, Skeetchestn Band, Spallumcheen Band and Whispering Pines/Clinton Band), told Raven's Eye that the Louis Creek fire had burned to the ground six of eight homes on the small Chu Chua reserve just north of Barriere that belongs to the North Thompson Band.

In addition, the nearby Tolko Industries sawmill -"the major employer in the (North Thompson) valley" -was "completely destroyed." About a dozen of the reserve's residents had worked there, and "at least a dozen" more were contractors to the logging section of that sawmill.

No buildings other than houses had existed on the Chu Chua reserve. Some were insured and some not; the chief did not want to give numbers.

"There are some non-insured issues to deal with, and that is being handled through the band office and communications with the Department of Indian Affairs-what kind of assistance we can get on an emergency basis."

At that point the town of Barriere was safe, he said, but "It was an extremely close call. The whole place could have gone up. It was an incredible wild fire that came in from the south that destroyed our reserve and the sawmill. But it just sort of diverted-one went on one side of the river and the other went around the other side-and Barriere was spared."

On Aug. 5, the band council met in Kamloops to establish an emergency plan and re-establish an operations centre there "that provides for the social needs of the people that are here, and also for emergency crisis management."

The chief also said the band had been told that power would likely be off for three or four weeks.

"We've put generators to pump up our reservoir and a generator at the main band office to establish telephone and radio communication from that centre, and we've established security," said Chief Nathan Matthew.

They were also offering support to the firefighters of the region; 24 of their members were fighting structural fires in Barriere and more than 16 were in a unit fighting wild fires. The administration established a process to recertify band members whose volunteer firefighting certification had lapsed.

The residents of Chu Chua were evacuated on Aug. 1 and registered with the Provincial Emergency Program.

For short-term, immediate help, "We have a contract with the Provincial Emergency Program," said the chief, "for provision of services for First Nations on the same basis as the public. So, once registered as evacuees, our band members are eligible for food, accommodation and emergency clothing."

The majority were staying in hotels and motels or with friends in Kamloops about 70 km south of the reserve. All band members are safe and accounted for.

On the day he spoke to us, the chief said the fire had moved about 10 or 12 km west "on the (Bonaparte) plateau area out of the North Thompson Valley, heading north, skirting the valley on the wes side."

"It's almost directly west of our I.R. Number One, which has the majority of our houses and our band office," added Councillor Keith Matthew, who said weather conditions were such that "nothing is safe in the valley."

Moral and practical support was coming from numerous places. New chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine had called. Grand Chief Ed John and Charlene Bailey from the northern Shuswap country had visited, said the chief.

"The fishermen down the coast sent a whole lot of salmon to our community ... we're really thankful for that."

It was too early to say what long-term help might be available from Indian Affairs, the chief said. A spokeswoman for the department agreed, saying a full assessment of the damage would take some time.

For now, Indian Affairs has a person on the scene acting as a liaison between the provincial emergency response crew and the band, Keith Matthew said.

The houses will be rebuilt and "We're all moving back," said Chief Matthew.

By Aug. 8, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District was reporting structural losses of more than $8.2 million in the McLure/Barriere fire. In the Louis Creek, ExLou and Clough Road area of McLure, 39 framed constructions valued at $3,994,049 were lost; along with 26 manufactured homes valued at $1,120,000; 54 parcels with 99 outbuildings valued at $1,053,790 and content losses of $2,045,620.

Replacement costs for destroyed vehicles, equipment or retail and industrial loses were not included in the tally.

A safe travel advisory was issued Aug. 8 by the ministry to reassure foreign visitors. It stated that the wildfires affect less than 0.1 per cent of the 95 million hectares of land comprising British Columbia, none of them threaten international tourist destinations and most are distant from major travel corridors.

A state of emergency order was extended to the entire province Aug. 2, when the Canadian military was called in to assist weary firefighters, and it remains in effec.