It was the worst case scenario for firefighters battling the Kenow wildfire in Waterton Lakes National park.
The fire, travelling at unprecedented rates of speed, quadrupling in size in just eight hours from the night of September 11 to the next morning.
“There were quite a few things that contributed to how fast this fire moved,” Jed Cochrane, Incident commander for Parks Canada said. “We had winds of 70 to 100 kilometres per hour through the night. We also had really warm temperatures through the night and really low relative humidity.”
There has been concern voiced by some residents that a controlled burn set by Parks Canada contributed to the growth of the fire.
Officials say that’s not the case, rather dry conditions and several spot fires caused by falling embers posed additional challenges.
“Fire crews did do some ignition in and around the park gates that was limited and when they were doing that the head of the fire was almost even with them,” Cochrane said. “They were doing that to try to protect the escape route that they needed for the rest of the personnel to leave the park.”
As the fire pushed towards the park’s boundary, mandatory evacuation notices were issued for parts of the Municipal District of Pincher Creek, Cardston County and the Blood Reserve.
Many residents were left scrambling to get out, unaware of how quickly the fire had spread.
“At 10:15 p.m. we issued the voluntary evacuation alert and it said the fire is firmly established in the Cameron Valley but there is no immediate threat to the residents, but be prepared to leave on a moments notice,” Tara Cryderman, Information officer with the M.D. of Pincher Creek said. “Twelve minutes later we did a mandatory evacuation.”
Everyone was safely evacuated, however, five homes were lost in the M.D. of Pincher Creek, something Alberta Agriculture and Forestry says was the result of aggressive fire behaviour.
“To get out in front of something like that is not something we can do,” Rick Moore, Incident Commander with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry said. “Obviously through one departure when it hit the prairie parts of things it speeds up exponentially.”
Contributing to the challenges of that night were delays in the transmission of Alberta Emergency Alerts through the mobile app on Apple devices.
In a statement, Press Secretary to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Lauren Arscott said:
“The alert took an average of 17 minutes to reach Apple devices, in comparison to an average of two minutes to reach Android devices. The fix that is currently underway will aim to have the average to five minutes or less for all devices. The updates will address the issues that were experienced during the Kenow Wildfire evacuation, and ensure that we are moving toward faster notifications.”
Although the speed of the fire was a surprise to many, community support in the aftermath is not, with plans already in the works to help rebuild and move forward.