(submitted photo/Felicia LaPratt)

By Julia Lovett-Squires

Waterhen Fire

Lost memories in Waterhen as community looks to future of school

May 29, 2024 | 3:52 PM

As the embers continue to smolder, Waterhen Lake First Nation Chief Blaine Fiddler reflects on the lost memories.

“That building was the hub centre of the community and (everyone) is pretty devastated,” he said.

Yesterday afternoon, a fire broke out in the industrial arts shop of Waterhen School and according to Fiddler, he is out of province and working his way back to the community.

“It’s pretty emotional. I went to school there, my kids went to school there,” he added.

“It’s sad to see it go up like that.”

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Currently, the community is working on emergency preparedness “to mitigate the safety aspect of it,” said Fiddler.

“Getting the fences put up around the site and getting security set up.”

The announcement was made in a Facebook post and messages of support have poured in from community members and former students with thoughts of heartache, prayers and memories. Meanwhile, the band office is also connected and has both smoke and water damage. In the coming days, the council will sit down with the federal government to see what grants are available as they have been in line for a new school.

“The plan for next fall is maybe use portables for the year until the school’s built,” Fiddler said.

There is also a precautionary drinking water advisory in place.

“When they were trying to put out the fire, they drained the reserves in the water treatment plant, so we’re going to have to wait for it to fill up again before we go back to normal water usage,” he said.

According to the advisory, residents of the First Nation are asked to boil their water for at least a minute prior to washing food including fruit and vegetables, brushing teeth, use alternative water, and make sure young children are sponge bathed.

“Limit their consumption; I know it’s going to take a couple of days before the advisory’s lifted,” Fiddler said.

As for what will happen over the weeks, school staff will have a meeting to determine a plan for their pupils.

“Thery’ll be further details in the coming days,” he said.

Right now, however, Fiddler said they are grappling with what the loss means to the community.

“Right now, we’re just trying to figure out our office space and where to put everybody. We had ordered an office about a month and a half ago, so hopefully that’s ready soon,” he said.

“Our infrastructure…our heating source comes from the school to the band office and our power source and our water.”

For more information on the water advisory, phone the Water Treatment Plant Operator: 306-236-5422, Waterhen Lake Health Centre: 306-236-3151 and Environmental Health Officer: 306-953-7283.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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