For some in the community, the thought of deliberately starting fires brings back feelings of anxiety from the not-so-distant past.
In 2017, a catastrophic wildfire tore across the dry grasslands toward the Ashcroft Indian Band. A dozen homes were destroyed on the First Nation and some residents they were displaced for more than a year.
“Of course, it’s always scary for everybody, a relapse,” says Dennis Pittman, an Ashcroft band councillor.
“If we can burn [the landscape] so it doesn’t happen again, it’s a real big deal.”
Memories of 2017 are still fresh for Pittman’s wife, Char, who says any fire here, even a controlled one, makes her feel uneasy.
“I’m still unsure because a fire can get out of control,” she says as she watches the firefighters training in her community.
“But having said that, with all the people that are here today that are going to be here to control the fire, I guess I can live with it,” she adds with a laugh.
This preparation work is setting the stage for a more ambitious plan: The band is planning to conduct a 55-hectare (0.55-square-kilometre) cultural burn next year.
