By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Rocking Heart Ranch rebuilds after Kenow Fire, as owners call for public inquiry

Jan 5, 2018 | 11:28 AM

CARDSTON COUNTY – It has been more than three months since those affected by the Kenow Fire, which burned more than 38,000 hectares in Waterton Lakes National Park, the MD of Pincher Creek and Cardston County, were able to return to their homes – or what was left of them.
 
While no lives were lost, some wildlife and livestock could not escape the flames, and many buildings across southwestern Alberta were burned to the ground.
 
Rocking Heart Ranch, which borders Waterton Lakes National Park, was one of the casualties of the blaze. Melody Garner-Skiba’s family owns the ranch where their home was destroyed, along with the barn, arena, corrals, hay yards and fencing .
 
The one building that survived was their steel shop.
 
As the Kenow fire approached Cardston County in early September, the family also housed numerous boats and vehicles that belonged to businesses in the Waterton townsite in the gravel pit on their land, to save them from the blaze.
 
“It was pretty much anything anybody wanted to save that was put into the gravel pit at that point as a precaution because they knew that the fire wouldn’t be able to get to it. Currently, there is nothing left. Everything has been moved out of the gravel pit because our operations on our gravel pit business continued.”
 
While the destruction on Garner-Skiba’s family farm was extensive, they are all moving forward, with help from the community.
 
“This past few months since the fire, our family has been really blessed by the outpouring of generosity….in the sense that we’ve had hay delivered to us to help feed our horses, we’ve had people asking if they can donate money, supplies – and so we’ve been directing them to the funds that have been set up to help all of the ranchers in the area to do that.
 
“When you live and breathe agriculture, you’re used to helping one another out,” Garner-Skiba explains. “There’s a real spirit of giving. I have to say it’s hard to talk about because it’s a very humbling experience to be on the receiving end versus the giving end… and that’s the lesson we’ve all had to learn in this whole situation and in this recovery effort.”
 
Now, the family is focusing on making sure their ranch can still operate and they can take care of their quarter-horses. They have leased land a few kilometres east of the ranch that escaped the fire and they’re operating from there for the time being.
 
“That’s where we’re going to be operating temporarily, probably for the next 10 to 18 months until we get all of our structures rebuilt on the ranch,” Garner-Skiba explains.

Work on rebuilding the family home is expected to begin sometime this spring. They’ve already built a new mechanical room/tack shed, a new foaling area and new corral for their stallions.

 As far as the fire itself, Garner-Skiba continues to thank the front-line firefighters for laying their lives on the line and doing the best they could.
 
But her voice becomes more stern when talking about federal and provincial efforts, to communicate crucial information in a timely manner, to those in the path of the fast-moving fire.
 
“There needs to be a full, public inquiry as to how this fire spread so quickly from the federal park, to the outlying areas. It is our opinion that our federal government really needs to take a hard look at how this was handled within the park’s boundaries, as well as to the firefighting communication and stuff like that, that went out to the province and the counties.”
 
She adds that until an inquiry takes place, she doesn’t believe any of their numerous questions will be answered.