Eight months after wildfire destruction, Skwlāx Rapid Housing Project yielding results

Part of why the rebuild happened so quickly, in comparison to other communities damaged by fire, was because of the way the band was able to use its own resources and company to lead the work.

“Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw, we’re not without our own resources,” Ku̓kpi7 James Tomma explains, “In personnel, our SRM (Skwlāx Resource Management) company and everything else, we were able to assemble quite quickly and start the process.”

As of this April, construction is speeding along for the new Dancing Fawn II subdivision and, at the same time, there are three more subdivisions underway.

“By the end of this year before the snow flies, we’ll see everybody that got displaced back home,” adds Tomma.

The Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw Rapid Housing Project is not just rapid in name. It took only eight months for those 11 houses to be built, and part of why that timeline was so quick was because of how the band chose to approach the rebuild.

Robin Billly was part of the core team involved in the rebuild work. His focus was finding companies to work with Skwlāx. He says on Day One, the main goal was to get people home as quickly as possible, and that meant staying on top of meeting progress timelines.

“Fortunately, the band here had its own corporation that could do a lot of the civil works. Having that direct line of communication with a company that could do a lot of the work was really valuable and saved the community so much time,” explains Billy. “You don’t have to tender things. You can direct the award through your own company. That is really important, and really sped up the process. But also starting the work on the request for proposals to find housing providers — start that on Day One. Every day you shave off the front end, you get somebody moved home on the back end quicker, and that was kind of the mentality that we took.”

Federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hadju says along with securing funding for the builds, the federal government recognized the internal expertise the band had, and worked with them to remove unnecessary red tape that would have otherwise slowed down the project.

“That, to me, is the true spirit of reconciliation. It’s not the federal government dictating to communities exactly how, when and what you shall build and where you shall build it, but really working with partners to determine what’s feasible, and how quickly we can move.”

For Billy, who is one of the dozens of Skwlāx residents who was displaced by the fire’s damage, the welcome back ceremony in a new subdivision was somewhat of a cathartic experience.

“It’s really important to get people back, and a big part of today was the ceremonial part,” he explains. “It’s almost like bringing your spirit back after being traumatized by fire.”

The fire destroyed homes and infrastructure, and caused massive emotional distress. But amid the group effort on rebuilding houses, Ku̓kpi7 Tomma reiterates they’ve also been rebuilding their sense of community.

“Seeing this — it just made me smile. I’m so proud of Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw.”

by Dylana Kneeshaw

Eight months after wildfire destruction, Skwlāx Rapid Housing Project yielding results

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