RAIN SPELLS RELIEF
A few minutes south, barricades still up as crews continue to battle Kenow wildfire
After two days of rain and cooler temperatures, the evacuation zone near Waterton Lakes National Park has been reduced and some roads were reopened Thursday. But the Kenow wildfire is still a threat, so the park’s townsite remains closed.
“Don’t quote him about how much he likes Donald Trump, we don’t want to lose the best barber in town.”
This comment, from a guy who claims to be “not from around here,” is just one of the jokes flying fast and furious Thursday morning inside Gary’s Barber Shop on Pincher Creek’s otherwise quiet main street.
“They come to me for a good hair cut but also to get the news of the day,” says Gary Anctil as he trims that purported out-oftowner’s hair. “I work here in the morning and Blairmore in the afternoons — I know what’s going on in both towns.”
If a place like this, where Anctil has been the barber for more than 35 years, is any indication, then the spirits of the townsfolk definitely don’t reflect the gloomy clouds and light rain coming down over the past 12 hours.
“The rain has been a long time coming,” says Anctil, as he works away in one of the busiest barbershops I’ve ever seen, small town or big city. “It’s good news for a lot of people.”
Just a few minutes south on the Cowboy Trail, the barricades are still up as fire crews continue to battle the Kenow wildfire, which for days now has been threatening Waterton Lakes National Park and areas around the park, resulting in the loss of five properties along with the Waterton visitors centre.
The rain, then, has been like manna from heaven for a community on edge, its six millimetres of precipitation overnight the first significant moisture since July. Another five to 10 millimetres are expected over the course of the day.
Rain has been something in desperately short supply after a lightning strike about two weeks ago kickstarted the devastation of so much beautiful mountain terrain, threatening the historic Prince of Wales Hotel, a UNESCO Heritage Site, and the Waterton townsite. So, it’s no surprise that so many people I meet in Pincher Creek — the closest centre and the place where a good number of evacuees are hunkering down — are smiling.
For Rick Tailfeathers, it’s a chance for the people of the Blood Tribe/Kainai First Nation to exhale for the first time in a while.
“We were covered in ash, now we’re covered in water,” says Tailfeathers, the communications officer of the reserve that is Canada’s largest. He tells me that 180 residents had to be evacuated but now all are back home, with no damage done to properties or land.
WORKED DAY AND NIGHT
“The fire crews did a great job on the south boundary,” he says. “They worked day and night to make sure we were safe.”
He also credits those on the reserve to keep people calm even through the worst of it.
“The tribe prepared well for possible evacuation,” he says, noting there were evacuation centres set up in both Stand Off and Cardston. “It’s a relief for us and for all the service providers.”
Still, emotions run high during disasters and even with the relief of the rain, Anctil says that there is much frustration and anger among residents.
At a town hall meeting the previous evening, he says people had lots of questions, but Parks Canada and government officials had few answers.
“There was a lot of, ‘we’ll get back to you on that,’” he says, as three of his waiting customers nod in agreement. “There are all these layers of bureaucracy, you can’t get a straight answer. There was one resident there who seemed to know even more than the officials.”
He says he and his fellow citizens also feel forgotten by the rest of the country. “I was watching the national news last night, and they said, ‘Pincher Creek is burning — we’ll have more on that after we tell you all about the hurricane in another country.’”
The prevailing mood on this day, though, is mostly relief. As I pull out of the town centre, three Calgary Fire Department trucks whiz by, heading in the direction of Waterton.
They serve as a stark reminder that while people can breathe a little easier, the battle is still far from won.