Fire engulfs Carry the Kettle water treatment plant, many without water

Carry the Kettle Nakoda First Nation is under a state of emergency after all of its community members were left without water following a massive blaze at the water treatment plant.

Councillor Shawn Spencer said a fire broke out around 10 p.m. Monday night, when community members noticed smoke was coming from the building.

“It engulfed, so to speak, so it blew up,” Spencer said.

Emergency and fire crews were on the scene Tuesday morning trying to keep the blaze under control.

Homes near the facility were evacuated due to the threat of the flames and the toxic gas that was emitting from the building. Spencer said no one was hurt in the blaze.

With the water treatment plant destroyed, every community member is out of water. Spencer said the job Tuesday morning was trying to ensure everyone had water.

“Delivering water to families, to women and children, elders, there’s a lot of people in the community that are under medical care so they were a priority first and foremost,” he said.

He encouraged everyone in the community who was able to go to the community hall to get some of the water that has been brought in.

As of Tuesday morning, Spencer said it hadn’t been determined if it was safe for the people who were evacuated to return to their homes.

It has been a rough few days for the community – one of its members was found dead on Monday.

“Despite the drastic impacts that are coming with the recent deaths and now the loss of our water treatment facility, we have strong people that come together, that support one and other,” Spencer said. “We treat each and every one like family and we are family.”

He said residents are grateful for the help people have been providing for the community.

Spencer said the First Nation already had a meeting with the Red Cross, INAC and its insurance company to determine what its next steps will be.

Chief Brady O’Watch said they are currently working on pumping untreated well water through the lines to keep the pipes from freezing. He said the well water would only be used for toilets and showers, not for cooking.

They are also reaching out to Piapot First Nation for advice. Piapot’s water treatment plant burned down a few months ago. The Chief said they’re in talks with the same construction companies and engineers who are familiar with the process. He was told it could take 12 to 18 months to rebuild the water treatment plant.

People wanting to provide support can reach out to Carry the Kettle council members through their website or head out to the community to provide support.

“It really humbled me to kind of see how much people are willing to help us out and very overwhelmed with the amount of support,” O’Watch said.

Carry The Kettle has a community membership base of about 3,000 with between 1,500 to 1,600 living on the community.

— with files from 980 CJME’s Andrew Shepherd

Here’s the water treatment facility after last night’s fire. Chief Brady O’Watch tells me it could be 12-18 months to rebuild. pic.twitter.com/4x7mp37KWU

— Andrew Shepherd (@Andrew5hepherd) February 26, 2019

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]