Wildfire near Camp Valaqua in July causes concern but no evacuation

When Camp Valaqua director Jon Olfert received a text on July 23 from a friend working with Alberta Wildfire saying that there was a three-acre fire 25 kilometres northwest of the camp, he didn’t think much of it. Olfert, who also works as deputy fire chief with the local Water Valley Fire Department, knew three acres was a small fire. But in the evening, his wife showed him a wildfire alert on Facebook that said the fire was 30 acres and growing.

“I think he had just missed a zero in his text,” Olfert said, chuckling slightly. “I knew right away, at least from a communication standpoint, that there were going to be concerned parents.”

Olfert went to his office late that evening and responded to voicemails and e-mails from parents, telling them what he knew at the time and that he would provide regular updates. The next day Alberta Wildfire categorized the Fallentimber fire or CWF-057 as “out of control.” The immediate area surrounding the fire was evacuated and an evacuation alert was in place for the municipal district of Bighorn.

“We were still 10 kilometres outside of the alert zone,” said Olfert. “But we were, of course, paying attention to it.”

On Wednesday morning, Olfert went over the camp’s evacuation plan. He called Southland Transportation in Cochrane and Bergthal Mennonite Church, 20 kilometres east of Didsbury, where campers would go in case of evacuation, to make sure everyone was on standby.

“They were all, of course, incredibly gracious and ready to help as much as needed,” Olfert said.

Mennonite Church Alberta issued a “Call to Prayer” for Valaqua on July 24. Olfert was grateful because it was a stressful situation, despite his inside knowledge of the fire’s progression thanks to his friend working on the fireline. “I mean I wasn’t sleeping well,” he laughed. “We felt pretty good about our situation the whole way through, but there's always those questions, and being responsible for all of these amazing folks. Yeah, it's something to carry.”

Christine Hansplant’s three children, ages 8, 10, and 12, were all campers at Valaqua that week. When she learned about the fire from Olfert’s communication she thought about picking up her kids, but Olfert’s daily updates and evacuation plan were reassuring.

Hansplant, who attends First Mennonite Church in Calgary and is Camp Valaqua’s board co-chair, noted Olfert’s firefighting experience and the connections he and camp manager Jeff Schellenberg have with the local community and Mennonite church.

“It was so comforting to be reminded of how fantastic it is that the camp itself is supported by so many people,” she said. That Bergthal church was available to host the kids gave Hansplant a sense of relief.

“Those ties are just so valuable,” she said.

Olfert kept the camp’s leadership team updated throughout the week, but the campers just enjoyed a week of camp, he said. The air was clear—clearer than in Calgary, which experienced heavy wildfire smoke that week—and the only modification to programming was to Wednesday’s overnighter event, where campers camp off-site. That night they slept in their cabins.

 “We just tried to have a fun week of camp. Unless you were paying attention to the news, you wouldn't have known anything was going on here,” Olfert said.

Twenty-three firefighters, two helicopters, and several heavy vehicles and water tanks were deployed to maintain the blaze, which was started by lightning. On July 30, the fire was re-categorized as “being held,” which is, as of this writing, its current status.