Crowsnest can’t shake memory of 2003 blaze
When Crowsnest Pass Mayor Blair Painter looks out his window, he sees the charred reminders of a 2003 wildfire that almost destroyed his community.
He also sees forest fuel made tinder dry by a relentlessly parched summer that has the southwest Alberta community on edge again.
“With this weather, we think about the Lost Creek fire,” said Painter. “We’re extremely concerned ... it came very, very, very close to our community and the conditions now are as bad if not worse than in 2003.”
Feeding those concerns are wildfires in southeastern B.C., sending pungent smoke signals eastwards into the Crowsnest Pass.
“In 2003, it was nothing for the fire to jump ahead a kilometre at a time,” he said.
The Lost Creek fire ended up scorching 20,000 hectares of forest and cost $35 million to put out.
The mayor lauded the province for banning outdoor fires and the use of off-highway vehicles, but he wonders if even more drastic measures are needed.
“The next step would be to close everything off, to completely cease activity in the back country,” said Painter.
“It’s on their minds, there’s a trigger point.”
Emergency crews have already responded to several small fires caused by careless visitors or residents in the area.
“I’m very disappointed people have not used their heads,” he said.
Local businesses fiscally burned by the fire were never compensated and some of them still bear scars from that time, said Painter.
Yvonne Gringrich recalls buying a business property in the Pass just as the Lost Creek fire was raging.
“There were spot fires across the street in our neighbour’s pasture ... we had to delay a little bit,” said Gringrich.
It didn’t discourage her from establishing Adanac Adventures, which rents out cabins in a heavily timbered area.
But Gingrich admits the B.C. fires and continuing parched conditions have heightened concerns.
“I’ve been checking on this every day, nobody wants this,” she said.
So far, the situation hasn’t damaged business, added Gingrich, with B.C.’s misfortune actually Adanac’s gain.
“People who’d planned to go there are looking for an alternative location,” she said.
Fire and off-road vehicle bans are being sidestepped by visitors turning to propane fire pits and other activities, said Gingrich.
But that trend, of course, hinges on the pass dodging the wildfire bullet.
To ensure that, said Painter, local fire crews and provincial officials have stepped up patrols to ensure fire ban compliance. “We don’t want people setting off fireworks or other crazy things,” he said.
As of Tuesday, there were 11 wildfires burning in Alberta, with all of them considered under control.