About half of Chipewyan Lake evacuees return home

Some evacuees from Chipewyan Lake are returning home months after a devastating wildfire destroyed more than half the homes in the hamlet.

At the end of May, a wildfire burnt 48 per cent of the primary residences in Chipewyan Lake, a hamlet 4.5 hours north of the nearest community in the boreal forest.

Starting Sept. 5, residents whose homes were in the unaffected area were allowed to return home, but the M.D. of Opportunity didn’t lift the evacuation order until Sept. 15.

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Council waited for a regular meeting, says M.D. Reeve Marcel Auger. Also, the residents had a lot of mental distress about returning, because only half of the residents could return at this time and there are so many trees burnt. It also took a bit longer than expected to get the homes ready.

The community had 50 primary residences, with people living in houses and cabins. Of these, 24 burnt down, and 26 didn’t. Of the remaining homes, 22 were in the unaffected area and four were in the burnt area.

The initial re-entry is only for the unaffected area, says Auger. Some of the residents who live in the other four homes have health issues, so the M.D. had a team coming on Sept. 18 to do another assessment to make sure there were no health risks for people living in those homes.

As of Sept. 18, the majority of residents who have a home have returned to Chipewyan Lake, says Auger. The water plant was also destroyed in the fire.

A temporary one will hopefully be installed by the end of September, says Auger. In the meantime, the M.D. is hauling water from Sandy Lake or Wabasca, which are basically the same distance.

The 144-kilometre road of mostly rough gravel, takes around four-and-a-half hours in the summer, and less time in the winter when the road is better.

The power went out, so the M.D. had to replace all of the fridges and freezers. The houses have septic tanks, water tanks, and propane tanks for heat. These were all cleaned and refilled before re-entry.

Temporary housing

The next step is getting temporary housing lined up for the residents who lost their homes. Residents had three options: stay in apartments in Wabasca or self-contained sleeper skid-shacks in Wabasca or Chipewyan Lake.

Four households chose to stay at apartments in Wabasca, says Auger, 22 sleeper units will be moved to Chip Lake, and three units in Wabasca. A couple of the older couples decided to stay in Wabasca until their permanent home is finished, to be closer to the hospital because of health reasons.

There are a few more units than houses lost, says Auger, because of overcrowding. Some homes had 16 people living in them, including grandparents, parents, and grandchildren. The temporary units will have parents and their children separate from the grandparents, although likely in the same yard.

The municipality is also working to replace the homes that burnt down. This is complicated by the fact that Chip Lake is in the midst of being transferred from a hamlet to a Bigstone Cree Nation reserve. This means the M.D., Bigstone, Indigenous Services Canada, and the Government of Alberta all have a stake in the community and the costs to rebuild.

There is no set timeline for rebuilding.

Other communities have had to wait a minimum of two years, says Auger, and up to four years.

“We’re going to continue to push it,” he adds. “And try to stay in that two-year timeline.”

The M.D. is also going to try to avoid overcrowding with the new homes.

“Our hope is we’ll be able to get those additional homes,” says Auger. “It’s going to be based on what we can get in cost recovery.”

Pearl Lorentzen, Local Journalism Initiative