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After the fire: Remote First Nation in northern Alberta struggling to rebuild, 2 years later
Chief Conroy Sewepagaham of Little Red River Cree Nation points to ground zero — the spot where the wildfire started two years ago.
"That's where all hell broke loose," he said.
More than 7,000 people live in the three communities that make up Little Red River Cree Nation — John D'Or Prairie, Garden River and Fox Lake.
Fox Lake is the largest with more than 4,000 people, said Sewepagaham. But it's also the most remote, being about 800 kilometres north of Edmonton.
Access in summer is by air or the deeply rutted dirt Highway 58 with a barge across the Peace River. In the winter, there's an ice road.
The Paskwa fire started May 2, 2023, near the community of Fox Lake. It burned until the following year and covered tens of thousands of hectares.
The fire has had a lasting effect on the community in many ways. A smoky day with hot, dry conditions can trigger bad memories.
"I'm on edge, to be honest with you," Sewepagaham said.
"The last time I've seen this much smoke, we evacuated."
Due to the community's isolation, it took three days to evacuate during the 2023 fire. And it wasn't easy.
"We had to ask people to leave their vehicles because we were running out of time," said Sewepagaham.
"We used canoes to get out. Anything we could get."
For some, it was their first time leaving the community. More than 90 per cent of people in Fox Lake speak Cree and some do not speak English, said Sewepagaham.
The fire destroyed more than 300 buildings in Fox Lake, most of which were homes. The community's main grocery store was also lost and the water treatment plant from the 1970s — which locals call Agnes — was heavily damaged.
Residents were able to return two months later, but there was no potable drinking water, fuel or groceries.
The next year, in 2024, the community evacuated again because of a wildfire, though no structures were lost.
Recovery and rebuilding is underway in Fox Lake, but it's been slow.
So far, 41 families have moved into new homes with another 100 families still waiting in either tiny homes, trailers or hotels, said Veronica Nanooch, director of disaster recovery for Little Red River Cree Nation.
Lola Laboucan lives in Fox Lake and helped evacuees book hotels during the 2023 evacuation. She said it was important to keep community members together.
"You might not know them personally, but you know which family they come from," she said.
"You know their dad, their grandfather. We're all a big family."
While Laboucan did not lose her home, several of her family members did. Some have been living in hotels for two years. As they start to replace items lost in the fire, they need to get storage units.
"Hotel rooms only have so much space," said Laboucan.
The rebuild
Being so remote, rebuilding is challenging, said Sewepagaham.
Large loads of construction materials cannot fit on the barge and airlifts are expensive. Big hauls need to happen in winter, when the river is frozen.
And not everything can be rebuilt.
"It's not just homes we've lost," said Nanooch. "Graveyards in the community are gone."
To help Indigenous communities rebuild, the federal government provides funding through the Emergency Management Assistance Program, but Sewepagaham said they were temporarily unable to access the funding when Parliament was prorogued earlier this year.
"We're at a near darn standstill."
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) stayed "fully engaged" with Little Red River Cree Nation during prorogation, according to a spokesperson for the department. In their statement, the spokesperson did not explicitly address the alleged inaccessibility to funding.
It will continue working with the First Nation to ensure it recovers as quickly and safely as possible, reviewing claims and reimbursing eligible expenses, the spokesperson said.
With Parliament back in session, funding has resumed. However, Sewepagaham said the rebuild has to catch up.
Due to cultural procedures in Fox Lake, homes lost during a traumatic event cannot be rebuilt on the same location but on a new site, said Sewepagaham.
Fox Lake isn't the only community on federal land that is currently rebuilding.
Last year, Jasper lost one-third of its buildings to wildfire. It lies within a national park, under the jurisdiction of Parks Canada.
While the two communities have similar year-round populations, Jasper — the second most visited national park in Canada — garnered far more attention.
Since 2014, Parks Canada has spent more than $24 million to reduce wildfire risks in Jasper National Park. Sewepagaham said funding requests for fire breaks in his communities were rejected, a few months before fire swept through Fox Lake.
"We've explained to our people, please don't take it to heart if Jasper rebuild finishes before Fox Lake," said Sewepagaham.
Sewepagaham is anticipating the rebuild will take another four years. ISC said it cannot project when home rebuilding will be finished at this time, noting that Little Red River Cree Nation is leading the recovery effort.
The next fire
Years after the fire, many residents are still traumatized from the disaster, said Nanooch.
"It's triggering," said Nanooch.
"Some have panic attacks. It's very stressful."
But if another fire hits, Fox Lake is better prepared.
There are now huge firebreaks, hundreds of kilometres long, around all three Little Red River Cree Nation communities.
There are plans to get fire hydrants —something the community did not have before — and sprinklers.
A fire guardian program is also in the works for locals to join.
"We're tired of watching people from the outside come and fight fires for us," said Sewepagaham.
"We've always fought fire. We live alongside it."
Newly built homes have metal tin roofs and metal blinds to shield windows from extreme heat.
Each home has been cleared of vegetation with a couple of feet of gravel added, making it much more difficult for the buildings to catch fire.
While the rebuild is still years away from completion, Sewepagaham said he expects most residents will return.
"One of our residents said, regardless of where I live, fires happen anywhere," he said.
