The Aqam community and the B.C. Wildfire Service are co-hosting the Kootenay akinquku TREX (prescribed fire training exchange) this week, which includes support from member Ktunaxa bands and the First Nations Emergency Services Society.
The exchange, which also includes local partners such as fire departments and resource coordinators, will provide a range of candidates with prescribed fire experience and knowledge, on topics such as planning, operations, fire ecology and fire effects, and the use of traditional fire.
This pilot project will be the first-ever delivery of a TREX in B.C. and is one pathway for fire practitioners to gain experience and build relationships through operational cooperation and place-based learning.
“Our community has worked closely with BC Wildfire on both prescribed burning and fire response and suppression," said Joe Pierre, Nasukin (chief) of the Aqam community. "This collaboration will increase our capacity to protect our lands and communities and ensure our cultural practices continue to thrive. akinquku TREX (akinquku is the Ktunaxa word for ‘fire’) is a powerful example of how we can work together to create safer, more resilient landscapes.”
The significance of prescribed burning is not lost to Aqam leadership and residents.
A large 1,200-hectare prescribed burn last year was completed on land just east of the Canadian Rockies International Airport a few months before a large wildfire broke out in July that devastated the community.
“We worked with BC Wildfire on a prescribed burn at aqam in April last year, just three months before a catastrophic wildfire swept into our community,” Pierre said. “The treated area at aqam is what stopped the St. Mary’s Wildfire from reaching the Canadian Rockies International Airport. Some folks may not know that, but the evidence is clear on the ground.”
