Residents return home as fire ‘held’

By Julia Magsombol Local Journalism Initiative julia@columbiavalleypioneer.com

The St. Mary's River wildfire that ignited on July 17 is now classified as being “held,” with ?Aq'am residents finally returning home.

"Being held is good news when opposed to an outof-control fire . . . it's a fire that's received sufficient suppression action, and it is not likely to spread further under forecast conditions," said Kirk Verner, an information officer with the BC Wildfire Service.

Located on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa First Nation, the suspected cause was downed power lines, but the investigation is ongoing.

A recent update from the BC Wildfire Service showed that the fire is approximately 4,640 hectares. Fire crews expect the size to increase in the coming days, but it's not something to worry about.

"Don't be too concerned; that's just from planned ignitions," said Daniel Klein, the Incident Commander at the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) "We're downsizing a little bit, but we are remaining with adequate resourcing here to make sure that we really bring this across the finish line."

For more information, visit: https://wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca/incidents?fireYear=2023&incidentNumber=N11805.

Verner added that the situation is being monitored by a drone that flies over the fire at night and does a thermal scan. This helps the crews to find hotspots. Once they find these, they do mop-ups with water to ensure these areas are cool to the touch. Then they move on to find other hotspots.

Verner added that some smoke will still be visible in the area. "We have firefighters working with heavy equipment and some aviation support; we're making sure that area is going to be all safe for the future. We'll be monitoring it with flights and with vehicles moving forward.”

On August 8, RDEK determined that the situation was safe, and the Evacuation Order was rescinded for 36 homes in the ?Aq'am community, meaning these families can return home.

“The community of ?Aq'am heads home after 23 days . . . we are grateful to see people heading home," said St. Mary's Indian Band on their Facebook page.

But the Band also mentioned that seven homes were lost in the wildfire due to the strong winds and tinder-dry conditions. And several roads within ?Aq'am will remain closed to the public (open for local residents only). For example, the Mission Wasa Low Road is closed to the public until further notice. The Mission Road through to LD Ranch Road is closed to public access until it is safe and the danger of tree falling is mitigated.

The RDEK and the ?Aq'am community are asking the public to stay out of the area to provide complete and open access to responding fire crews.

More information is available at https://www.rdek. bc.ca/departments/protectiveservices/emergencyinfo/ evacuation_alerts_orders/

After hard work and dedication from ground crews and aviation resources, the St Mary’s River wildfire is classified as being held. This means that due to suppression efforts, the fire is not expected to grow beyond predetermined boundaries.

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