UPDATED AT 9:30 A.M. TUESDAY
Victoria Joseph didn’t have much time to pack when she got the order came last Tuesday night to evacuate their fire-threatened village of Yekooche First Nation, about 80 kilometres northwest of Fort St. James.
Joseph was told to pack three sets of clothes, a swimsuit and a sweater and pack lightly for the trip to Prince George, where they were sent to the emergency reception centre the city has established for wildfire evacuees at the Kin Centre. They got to Prince George early Wednesday morning, less than a day after the fire was discovered about six km southeast of the village.
“They told us to bring everything that means a lot to you, so I brought all my hats,” laughed Joseph.
The Whitefish Lake fire grew to 61 hectares and 12 men from the village stayed behind to build a fire guard. The BC Wildfire Service responded with a first-attack crew, resources to bring in heavy equipment and has mobilized a structure protection unit to pour water on the buildings at Yehooche.
“The fire was six kilometres away from reserve and now they’ve got it contained but they’re still watering the houses and they’re digging a fire guard around the reserve,” said Joseph. “Now we’re missing out on our hunting and fishing and doing our winter supply stuff because we’re down here. We can dry fish and dry meat and pick berries for our winter supplies.”
They received some good news Sunday when the fire that threatened their homes was moving eastward away from the village. While progress has been made fighting the fire close to the Yekooche, Joseph says the keyoh (fishing camp) about 28 km east of the village on the southwest shore of Stuart Lake is still being threatened.
Joseph shares her house in Yekooche with two nieces and two nephews and with her own adult children she’s taken on the task of trying to keep her 15 grandchildren entertained, living four or five to a room at the Camelot Motel. They’ve been keeping cool in the motel pool and on Sunday went to the Prince George Aquatic Centre.
The city’s Emergency Support Services (ESS) provides hotel accommodation and restaurant food vouchers. Yekooche First Nation is also working with Carrier Sekani Family Services to help them through their forced retreat from their homes.
“It’s stressful but I’ve got them under control, I just want to make sure all is well and they’re eating,” said Yekooche First Nation councillor Andrea Tom.
“We want to go home because we live in an isolated area and being out here (in the heart of the city, close to a highway) is noisy. But they’re taking it good, it’s just boring, because they’re used to freedom. This hotel has been pretty good for us. But they’re getting tired of eating restaurant food, we’re used to having a home-cooked meal and moose meat.”
The logging road that connects Yekooche to Fort St. James is still open and Tom says that’s a positive sign. She was the last one to leave Yekooche and had just three minutes to pack and she’s now staying in Prince George at one of the motels with her daughter and 11 young grandchildren.
“It was 1.5 kilometres away from our road yesterday at about 1 o’clock and they must have a hold on it, keeping it contained, but it’s windy and that’s the thing I don’t like,” said Tom.
“We’re just praying for rain.”
Apparently, those prayers were answered.
Jean Strong, a B.C. Wildfire Service fire information officer working in the Vanderhoof-Fort St. James office, said rain showers Monday decreased fire activity, allowing aircraft to fly into areas where lack of visibility due to smoke prevented that from happening for several days.
"The Whitefish Lake fire did receive rain yesterday, which was helpful after a few days of increased fire behaviour," said Strong. "A few days ago there was come convective activity in the area with some storm cells going through with some winds and the fire moved around six kilometres.THe growth was to the east (away from the village).
Eight pieces of heavy equipment and 22 firefighters are working on the Whitefish Lake fire and structure protection systems are in place to keep the buildings wet if the fire shifts direction towards the community. Similar water systems are in place in 13 locations in the Vanderoof-Fort St. James area. Tankers with retardant and smoke jumpers responded to a new fire detected 20 km north of Vanderhoof two km east of Highway 27 and that fire is being held, Strong said.
Victor Tom, Yekooche’s director of administration and operations, just started his job at the village two months ago but he knows the people well and he has fears about what could happen if the Whitefish fire suddenly shifts direction and the village school, band office, homes and the surrounding forest are threatened.
“Everyone is pretty worried, because it was pretty smoky,” said Victor Tom. “Some are really stressed and some are OK. It’s one of those times that you don’t really want to go, but you’ve been forced to go.”
