For Aq’am community members like Pete and Dolly Andrew, the start of fire season in British Columbia is a stark reminder of what they lost last summer.

“When [the] fire happened, for the first few weeks I just kept having nightmares,” said Pete, who with Dolly was one of seven families who lost their homes in the St. Mary River blaze last July.

“I would wake up in my hotel room yelling, ‘Help! Help!’”

Downed power lines ignited two different fires on reserve land on July 17, 2023. Driven by strong winds, the flames quickly spread through the Ktunaxa Nation community of Aq’am, around nine kilometres north of Cranbrook, B.C.