Some Albertans stayed to protect their homes from wildfires. Now they say more help is needed

As It Happens6:49Some Albertans stayed to protect their homes. Now they say more help is needed

Samantha Callioux says communities in Alberta have stepped up to protect themselves from forest fires. Now, the rancher says, it's time for government to catch up. 

Callioux is one of thousands of Albertans affected by the dozens of wildfires burning through the province that have so far displaced about 30,000 people from their homes.

But Callioux, who is the co-owner of Go Hard Ranch in Wildwood — a hamlet west of Edmonton — decided to say and fight the fire with her neighbours. She was in Jasper when she was told her land might be in danger last weekend, so she hurried back to protect it. 

The province declared a state of emergency over the weekend, and Premier Danielle Smith has requested military help from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

But Callioux says more help should've showed up earlier. Here is part of her conversation with As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

Samantha, what are you seeing when you look out on your property today?

As of right now, we are still seeing hot spots smoldering. It is trying to rain, but unfortunately, it's not raining enough to be truly effective in our firefighting efforts. We've been completely and utterly abandoned from Yellowhead County and our government as a whole. 

So us as farmers have been helping ourselves. We've been doing this for over a week now and the fires are somewhat at bay because of all of our efforts. But it is still smoldering and we're still checking in on all the hot spots and checking in on one another.

So you don't feel safe yet? You don't feel out of the woods yet?

We absolutely do not feel safe yet, unfortunately. 

Have you been able to get any rest?

I've had a few hours here and there. I've actually been up since 5:30 a.m. doing interviews such as this because we need to get the word out that this has been completely, utterly mismanaged from the time the fire started. 

We've just received word that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was speaking to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this morning and requested military assistance in that conversation. And he said that, "Canada would be there to support Alberta in any way possible." What do you want to see from your province and from the federal government?

As of right now, it's about playing catch up. Us as civilians have taken initiative. And why are they playing catch up to us when this is not the first wildfire we've ever experienced? We should have many resources here instead of crying for help. 

This past Saturday, it was probably the most utterly horrific experience I've ever seen in my life; meanwhile, [it's] the most inspiring. Farmers and ranchers from our entire area, showing up with water tanks, buckets, water backpacks, shovels. 

The fact that the military and the government is just being called in now is absolutely ridiculous. 

WATCH | Alberta man says house is 'completely levelled' after wildfire

Alberta man says house is 'completely levelled' after wildfire

2 years ago

Duration 1:59

Adam Norris says he's lost 'immeasurable precious items' — including livestock — after fire hit his farm property near Drayton Valley, Alta. One house was levelled, he said, while another was badly damaged. ‘It’s surreal,’ Norris said as he tried to get a sense of the damage.

When you talk about seeing the most horrific things you've ever seen, what have you seen?

I have been driving a water truck personally myself. We have driven through our fields to try and stop the wildfire from continuing on. 

We have had neighbours who have taken initiative from day one. We have had teenagers running farming equipment, building fire guards day in, day out, sleeping in their fields, using money out of their own pockets to fuel this equipment. 

We had one of our neighbours get in a dozer, plow through burning trees in order to stop the fire from advancing, because once it gets to a certain point … there's no way of knowing where the fire would truly stop after that.

You weren't at home when you got the call to come back because things were bad. What did you see as you came back?

No, I was not at home. I was in Jasper, which is three hours to the west of where my ranch was located. So I drove home in the middle of the night, and as I got north of Wildwood, it looked like a city of flames. It looked like I was driving into a horror film. 

I witnessed a house unfortunately on fire. The flames were, I've been told, 300 feet in the air. And I continued on. I stayed out of the way … and I drove home and the next day I had so many people came to our place to help us pack up. 

We have a guest ranch, a wedding venue, and animals to relocate. Everyone is making the animals our number one priority. It is calving season. My friend has 650 cows calving at this point in time. They've been up all hours of the days. We have our neighbours to the north of us. They have thousands of animals. They cannot locate them. 

We are not just being stubborn and saying we aren't leaving. We are trying to save our farmland and save the animals from having to be let out. There's no one coming to help us. We are all out of power. We've all been distributing generators and making sure livestock have access to water. 

It was dangerous to stay, but are you glad that you did?

Absolutely. It's been dangerous to stay. But at this point in time, where are we safe to leave? There's fires in all directions. So if we aren't putting the fire out, that's going to reach more and more homes and more and more areas. 

What do we do if we're not being helped? We have to help ourselves. I do not regret whatsoever staying to help my community. It was the most inspiring thing I've ever seen in my life — that people that don't even know each other can work together seamlessly, safely and make a difference. 

And if we had not done what we did on Saturday, I have no idea where the fire would be at this point in time.