For almost half her life, 12-year-old Michaela Aie of Ashcroft has been raising funds during the summertime for different good causes, including Ashcroft Fire Rescue, victims of the Lytton fires in 2021 and 2022, and the two Ashcroft families who lost their homes to fire last year.
This year, Michaela’s lemonade stand was set up outside her home on Elm Street for three days last week, selling cold beverages, freezies, and cupcakes to raise funds for the residents of Saranagati Village in Venables Valley, whose community was devastated by fire last month. Some 20 buildings, including six primary residences, were lost, as was infrastructure such as water systems and solar panels.
On Aug. 17, Michaela presented the money she had raised — $1,351.65 — to Venables Valley resident (and Ashcroft pool manager) Nandini Villeneuve, who had been approached by the Aie family to make sure the community was fine with the lemonade stand fundraiser.
Michaela’s mother Heather says that many of the Venables Valley kids play on school teams in Ashcroft, and that residents of the valley are an integral part of the Ashcroft community. Villeneuve agrees, pointing out how many Venables residents work in and around Ashcroft or own businesses there.
She also points out how many people in the region have already been through a similar experience to what Venables has experienced, or know someone who has.
“It’s not just Ashcroft and Cache Creek, it’s Clinton, Spences Bridge, Logan Lake. There have been offers of things, and we have specific needs right now, but we definitely need money as we deal with the cleanup.”
That process is expected to take some time, as residents deal with the debris and ash.
“We’re cleaning up sites where homes were destroyed, and it’s a lot of work,” says Villeneuve. “You have to suit up and go into a pit and deal with ash, metal objects, cars. Steve’s Towing from Clinton has offered to take the cars away for free, and [Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area “I” director] Tricia Thorpe has been amazing.
“The TNRD’s emergency services have been very supportive. We have bins for scrap metal, for double-bagged ash, and for other stuff, and they’ll come and take it away. Team Rubicon has been great: they did danger tree removal and helped us go through the ashes, and provided PPE. They want to come back with a bigger team.”
Many residents lost all their tools, and the community — which looks after the roads within the village — is looking to replace its snowplow and sander, which were destroyed. Others lost all their wood, which is a critical need as residents in the off-grid community look ahead to winter.
Villeneuve says that there have been many people offering to help once the Area Restriction Order in the vicinity of the Shetland Creek wildfire is rescinded. Until it is lifted, residents can enter the area, but non-residents must stay out.
“Every weekend will be a work weekend,” says Villeneuve. “We started this past weekend, and in spring we hope to be able to start rebuilding.”
The Shetland Creek wildfire started 7.5 kilometres from Spences Bridge on July 12, and on July 17 some 50 of the 80 residents of Saranagati Village were at a community meeting hosted by the TNRD to discuss the fire threat and what more could be done in terms of FireSmarting the village.
“FireSmarting has been going on there for years,” Villeneuve notes. “In the 12 years I’ve lived there it’s always been stressed, and we’ve had information supplied about it, people doing presentations. 2017 [the Elephant Hill wildfire] was a wake-up call, and 2021 [Lytton Creek wildfire] was a kick in the pants.
“It really pushed us to install sprinklers on roofs, put gravel around buildings, trim the trees. Doing FireSmart stuff is no guarantee, but it definitely puts the percentage higher that stuff will be saved, that’s for sure.”
The Shetland Creek fire moved so quickly on July 17 that residents had to evacuate the community immediately, and Villeneuve says they expected the worst.
“When we left on the Wednesday night we thought ‘Everything will be gone, it won’t survive.’ But things survived because of BC Wildfire Service and all their work and structural support. We saved houses because of the work they did and the work we did with FireSmart.”
The TNRD arranged for 12 members of the community to receive wildland firefighting training. Villeneuve says that people at Venables were already putting out spot fires before the training — “That was just instinct and common sense” — but adds that having professional training is good as they move forward.
The focus now, however, is on rebuilding, and fundraising to help with that rebuild. Donations can be sent via e-transfer to vvwildfirerelief@gmail.com, or by mailing a cheque to Venables Valley Wildfire Relief Fund, P.O. Box 99, Ashcroft, B.C. V0K 1A0. There is also a website where you can donate, and which has more information about the community, the fire, the aftermath, and the future; go to https://bit.ly/3WUR8y4.
Villeneuve expressed her thanks for the money that Michaela Aie raised through her lemonade stand. “It warms your heart. The family has connections to the valley, and they’re such a nice, giving family.”
Heather Aie says that it shows what a small community with a big heart can do.
“There will be a need there for a long time, and this is just a little piece, but we hope they know they are loved.”
