Venables Valley wildfire victims face ‘daunting’ cleanup without insurance

Six weeks after wildfire ravaged their remote community, Venables Valley residents are facing new challenges as they try to cleanup and rebuild as government funding dries up.

Walking through ashes and rubble, Radha McAllister looks out over the plot where her home used to be. She points to where a deck once stood and where an entrance led to a laundry room.

For four years, she, her husband and their children lived in the three-storey house on the off-grid property in Venables Valley. Then, the fire came.

“We’re now at the point where my husband started work today. He’s a teacher,” McAllister said. “My kids have to start school and we’re not settled. We don’t have a long-term place yet.”

The Shetland Creek wildfire tore through the Venables Valley in July. Strong winds caused two fires to merge, forcing everyone who lived in the area to flee. While fire smart techniques helped save most of the homes, six houses and eight cabins were destroyed.

Six weeks later, residents of the remote community are facing new challenges as some return to ruin and are now left with the task of trying to rebuild.

Because the community is off-grid, many of those who live there don’t have insurance either by choice, involuntarily or because of the high cost.

Adding to the challenge, the province’s state of emergency was lifted Wednesday, and funding through the Emergency Support Services (ESS) program will also dry up for many in the near future.

“That’s daunting,” McAllister said as she fought back tears. “We still have a mortgage to pay on our ashes. And we have to find a place to rent.”