Unprecedented measures taken as wildfire bears down on Waterton
WATERTON LAKES NP – In terms of scale, Waterton’s size doesn’t rival some of its more famous big brothers but, it’s the smallest national park to be named a World Heritage site and it is known and loved around the world. It’s breaking the hearts of many to hear that an encroaching wildfire prompted evacuation of the park and its town site on Friday (Sept 8). Something that has never happened before.
Officials are not allowing anyone, other than firefighters and emergency workers, back into the town site. When a reporting team from Lethbridge News Now arrived at the park gate Sunday afternoon, two RCMP officers were guarding the perimeter. Officers Dale and Mike were taken off of their usual duties in Claresholm and Calgary. They were polite, but offered an emphatic ‘No’, to an intermittent onslaught of visitors who asked if they could be allowed in to take pictures. They maintained the demeanor, in spite of the smoke stinging their eyes and making it hard to breath.
The Kenow fire raging on the western flank of the park, on the B.C. side of the border has increased in size from 7,800 hectares at mid-week, up to 9,400 hectares by Sunday afternoon. It has only stuck its tentacles into the park so far and fire crews have managed to put out the spot fires including one in the Tamarack Basin and the South Kootenay Pass, where helicopter crews bucketed water onto the flames. Fire officials expected to be able to hold the blaze on the Alberta side of the border.
However, a statement sent out Sunday (Sept10) evening confirmed the fire continued to advance southeast along the Akamina Valley and was expected to continue in that direction through the night. There is a high probability the wildfire will reach the B.C. and Alberta border tonight (Sunday) and enter Waterton Lakes National Park near Cameron Lake.