Rik Valentine, leader and co-founder of the Argenta Fire Crew, looks up at air suppression efforts by the BC Wildfire Service on July 19, 2024, near a fire to the northeast of Argenta, BC. Photo: Louis Bockner
Argenta Fire Brigade
On the night of July 17, a massive lightning storm rolled across the Kootenay region of B.C.’s southeast Interior, lighting up the darkness and setting dry hillsides ablaze. In my small, end-of-the-road community of Argenta, home to approximately 150 people, we awoke to at least four fires burning on the mountain directly above our homes.
It's something many of us have been waiting for, recognizing it as an inevitable reality of living so intimately with the forests we love so dearly. It's also something we prepared for.
For more than two decades, Argenta has been developing a local wildfire crew. It’s made up of approximately 20 community members who gather once a year to get their S100 and S185 firefighting certifications. As part of the annual training, almost always held in May, people participate in a mock fire drill imagined by Rik Valentine, the course instructor and a resident of Argenta since the 1950s.
Thanks to this preparation we were able to respond to the fires and work alongside the BC Wildfire Service as the situation worsened. In the end, the Argenta Creek Wildfire burned nearly 20,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of Argenta for three weeks. However, despite burning portions of several properties, no homes were lost and our brigade played a pivotal role in protecting houses and keeping water lines working.
To read more about this story visit these links to articles published with The Narwhal:
Argenta Creek Wildfire (2024)
Argenta Fire Brigade (2025)
