If I had to sum up what September meant to me (in two words) it would be...
Kenow Beast.
That is the name that was given to the massive wildfire that began in the Kenow Basin (somewhere in British Columbia) and crossed the great divide into our beloved Waterton Park on Sept 11th.
The fire actually began (thanks Lightning!) a couple of weeks prior and hovered for the longest time along the BC/Alberta border. Standing by the stance (the very viable stance) that it is healthy and natural for a forest to experience fire - Parks Canada and fire officials mostly watched the fire slowly grow, preparing for the worst and doing their best to minimize potential damage and evacuate preemptive.
The townsite of Waterton was evacuated as soon as officials began to feel certain that the fire was posing a threat to the residents. It is a good thing they did!
Though the fire grew at a reasonable/manageable rate over those two weeks - in one day it doubled in size, breaching the parks border, crossing over well known terrain such as Bertha, Cameron and Red Rock, travelling down towards the townsite and then leaving the park at the main entrance!
Carried by strong wind, the fire quickly approached the community of mountain view, forcing a mandatory evacuation of the west portion of Cardston County. I was up that entire night wondering if my friends/coworkers had lost their homes, if we would have to be evacuated, and if there would be any it of Waterton left.
Below are some of the photos that tugged at my heart over the course of these few days.
Unlike previous journal entries, none of these photos contained in this post were taken by me:
The local fireman (as well as firemen from Calgary, Lethbridge, Taber, Claresholm etc) had worked feverishly for a coupe of days to prepare Waterton townsite for impending fire. Seven miles of hose, many pumps, giant sprinklers and copious amounts of fire retardant foam were used. What a site that must have been for those resting fighters to watch the fire arrive, knowing that once it did, there would be little that they could do.
A co worker of John's and mine is also a firefighter and actually had a leadership role in fighting this Kenow Fire. He said nothing could have prepared them for the wall of fire that surround them in a matter of minutes.
The Visitor Centre was one of the first casualties. Luckily the fire never did breach the actual town site, but it did destroy this center, a few administrative buildings, a portion of the Golf Course, the stables in its entirety, the Park Wardens home as well as some ranchers homes/property.
Apparently firefighters were told not to protect the visitors center which is interesting considering the heated controversy surrounding the building of a new visitor center. This recent development could either provide a new found location (land minus old buildings) in which a visitor center could be more amicably built, OR it will provide a more urgent need for the Park Superintendent to ram his agenda for a new building to be built where the much loved community park now stands.
This photo shows just how close the fire came to some of the cabins. Literally in the back yards of some!
It's amazing that these small park entrance huts are still standing. John and I were relieved to see that our favorite defected automated gate is still there.
Of course it would survive;)
Of course it would survive;)
This is how the sky looked all evening. It was eerie!!!!
I didn't sleep much that night, in fact, I woke often to check facebook and shed a tear every time I saw an update or new photo of the park. Watching Bears Hump go up in smoke was a hard one for me. Our family has hiked that every year and now it has been forever changed.
Actually...70% of the park has been forever changed.
The south side of the park (Vimy, Crypt etc) is still very much untouched, but anything remotely north of the lake is burnt. Many Wildlife was killed, though the park says there is still some life there and the most recent reports indicate that it will be months and years before most trails are open to the public. When they are - they will be very exposed trails indeed!
Ahhh...I could still cry!!!
The day after the fire was a sobering one.
Though school was cancelled for some, John and I still had work. The sky over our little town was black. Like...literally the blackest I'd ever seen.
Ash (burnt pieces of our park) were falling down around us like giant flakes of snow.
Everyone functioned in a semi awake sort of way - all with heavy hearts.
It was weird.
John and I have little to complain about though.
We didn't have any equipment in the park. We lost no Ranch lands. Our livestock wasn't killed. Our crops weren't burned. Truly, the only tangible way that we were effected by that fire that week was we took in two little evacuee birds that belonged to a country dwelling friend of ours who had to flee her home and couldn't take her canaries with her.
It's been interesting to go back to the park since and I wonder if I will ever see it again as it once was. One man said in an interview that he suspects Waterton will see some visits over the course of this next year as people come to see the damage, but visits will likely (he said surely) decline after that.
I for one won't shed a tear if fewer people visit the park (haha) it's still beautiful to me!!
