By Scott Roblin

Hilda fire victims petitioning Cypress County for changes

Nov 21, 2017 | 5:26 PM

DUNMORE, AB – Land owners affected by the Hilda wildfire made a presentation at Cypress County Council on Tuesday afternoon, asking for supports both provincially and regionally.

Members of the Hilda and Community Association were joined by Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes to outline their requests one month following the 20,000 acre blaze.

On October 17, a wildfire spread through the Hilda area which was fanned by winds well over 100 kilometres per hour.

For the group, key requests included the County declaring the wildfire as a ‘disaster’, implementing interest-free loans for those who lost property in the blaze, and changing policy when it comes to fire permits and fire bans.

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Hilda and Community Association president Andy Kirschenman said the varying landscape of Cypress County is affecting current fire permits.

“That changes things drastically from end to end of the County,” said Kirschenman. “From a moisture perspective, from a fuel load perspective. So, having a blanket fire ban or not a fire ban over such a large area, I think has to be looked at.”

Council members also confirming they have met with Alberta’s ministers over the last few weeks to try to get some assistance flowing provincially.

There has also been talk of residents potentially accessing the province’s Disaster Relief Program, which is used to cover un-insurable losses.

Kirschenman said it’s encouraging to see local representatives continuing to push for support at the provincial level, but adds legislation may take a while.

“There are definitely some things that, from an education perspective, I think are possible,” he said. “From a legislative one, I think it’s hard to do and even harder to police. But, I think having the ideas out there on what can be done is something.”

As for donations, the Association said they’ve received around $87,000 as recently as last Thursday, with a large part of goods donations coming in feed.

While it was a traumatic situation for the Hilda community, Kirschenman said locals have rallied together to support each other during this stressful time.

“The community has come together,” he said. “We knew the community would, but we wish we didn’t have to have something like this to know what a great community we live [in]. But, we haven’t been disappointed.”

A charity cattle auction will be taking place on Thursday morning at the Medicine Hat Feeding Company, with 100% of the proceeds going to support fire victims.