INTERESTING NEWS Canada’s Oldest First Nations Newspaper - Serving Nuu-chah-nulth-aht since 1974 Canadian Publications Mail Product Vol. 52 - No. 12—June 12, 2025 haas^i>sa Sales Agreement No. 40047776
Wildfire in Nahmint, need grows for rain Charges for ‘Warmer than normal’ summer is expected, with snowpack at 39 per cent of normal 2016 murder of George Cecil David By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor
With evacuation orders already in place in British Columbia’s northeast and the uppermost sections of Canada’s prairies, the wildfire season hit Nuu-chah-nulth territory on June 8 with an incident on the side of Nahmint Mountain. Deep in Nuu-chah-nulth territory south of Sproat Lake, the Nahmint fire was first spotted during a hot Sunday when the temperature rose to 32 Celsius. Over the following day the fire grew to over 23 hectares, sending from the mountain a cloud of smoke that’s visible from Sproat Lake. The BC Wildfire Service responded with two initial attack crews of three to four personnel each, plus a 20-member unit crew also on scene. On June 9 three helicopters were being deployed to control the blaze and one piece of heavy equipment. The wildfire is believed to be human-caused, and by June 10 was classified as “being held”. As of the second week of June, this was by far the largest forest fire active on Vancouver Island, but elsewhere in B.C. a wave of out-of-control incidents have led to highway closures and evacuation orders. All of the province’s wildfires of note lie in the northeast corner: the 156,000-hectare Pocket Knife fire, the 81,000 hectares burning by Summit Lake and the over 21,000-hectare Kiskatinaw River blaze that has spread across the Alberta border. Over 80 wildfires are active in B.C., with an estimated 70 per cent believed to be caused by human activity. Neil McLoughlin is the superintendent of the BC Wildfire Service’s Predictive Services Unit. During a press conference held by the province on June 9 he noted that not all of these ignitions are intentional. “That doesn’t mean there were necessarily people out there deliberately setting fires,” explained McLoughlin. “There’s a lot of different mechanisms for how a human-caused fire can start - whether that be a vehicle, heavy equipment, a rail line, a tree on a power line. All of those things qualify as a human-caused wildfire.” While the number of human-caused incidents usually stay consistent over the fire season, McLoughlin expects lightning starts to increase over the summer. B.C.’s northeast has an “extreme” fire danger rating, but most of Vancouver Island sits at “moderate” with the southern quarter south of Nitinaht lake rated “high”. June rain will play a critical role in de-
Tla-o-qui-aht artist was found dead in an apartment days after boarding a bus from Neah Bay By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter
BC Wildfire Service photo
Deep in Nuu-chah-nulth territory south of Sproat Lake, the Nahmint fire was first spotted during a hot Sunday when the temperature rose to 32 Celsius on June 8. Over the following day the fire grew to over 23 hectares, sending from the mountain a cloud of smoke that’s visible from Sproat Lake. termining if this risk increases explained nomic activity, according to a report from McLoughlin, who expects “warmer than the region’s chambers of commerce. normal temperatures” this month. It remains to be seen how difficult this “June rain can really set the tone for fire season will be for western Vancouver the remainder of the fire season,” he Island residents, and while the snowpack said. “Areas that may experience healthy is slightly lower at this time of the year amounts of the precipitation in the weeks than in 2023, some encouraging signs to come here, that just really helps to are evident in drought levels. Vancouver recover fuel moisture and lessen the Island still sits with a Level 1 drought fire danger as we head into the summer rating, according to the province - lower months.” than it was two years ago. Meanwhile in The amount of snow still waiting to melt B.C.’s high-risk northeast drought has from the mountains will also affect fire reached levels of 3 and 4. danger and drought this summer. As of This summer the province is hoping early June Vancouver Island has 39 per improved camera systems will be able to cent of its normal snowpack, according detect wildfires faster. to a recent bulletin from the province’s “We’ve been making drastic changes River Forecast Centre. to make sure that we can best tackle the During the June 9 press conference wildfires that occur in our province,” said David Campbell, the head hydrologist at Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar. “Our the River Forecast Centre, expected an wildfire aviation contracts are in place, “accelerated melt” of this snow after a and with the training and use of night viparticularly hot weekend. sion technology, will help our crews work “About two thirds of the snow that we overnight and enhanced respiratory gear started with this year have now melted, will help keep them safe.” while in a normal year we would have Wildfires have already burned for weeks about half,” he said. through northern Saskatchewan, ManitoIt was two years ago that western ba and Ontario, leading the B.C. Wildfire Vancouver Island communities became Service to send help. Just over 100 of severely hindered when a wildfire broke B.C.’s crew members have been fighting out on the bluffs overlooking Cameron fires in these other provinces, amountLake. Debris fell onto Highway 4, cuting to approximately 10 per cent of the ting off road access for weeks – except province’s suppression resources. a detour through logging roads that was “We will continue to be there for them deemed for essential travel only. The when conditions in B.C. allow,” said 2023 Cameron Bluffs wildfire eventually Parmar. “We expect the majority of our encompassed 229 hectares, costing the people and resources will be back in B.C. region an estimated $61 million in ecoin the next week.”
Inside this issue... Inconsistencies in day school settlements......................Page 4 New standards for overdose prevention sites.................Page 7 Designer unveils work at Fashion Week............Pages 10 & 11 National park cautions public about wolves.................Page 15 Masks return home after over a century.......................Page 19
Port Angeles, Wash. – The Port Angeles Police Department has arrested Tina Marie Alcorn in connection to the 2016 murder of 65-year-old George Cecil David. George David was a Tla-o-qui-aht master carver who lived in Neah Bay at the time of his death. On March 26, 2016 he boarded a bus in Neah Bay headed for Port Angeles. He planned to take a ferry to Vancouver Island for a family funeral. On March 28, 2016, David’s remains were discovered in the apartment of a friend who invited him to stay over. Reports say that he died from a head injury. On June 10, 2025, the Port Angeles Police Department announced that it has taken custody of Tina Marie Alcorn, 55, of Phillips County, Arkansas, “in connection with the 2016 homicide of George Cecil David, a respected master woodcarver originally from Port Alberni, British Columbia, who was residing in Neah Bay at the time of his death.” The PAPD goes on to say that Alcorn, who has ties to Clallam County, was identified early in the investigation as the primary suspect. “On April 19, 2016, Port Angeles Police Department detectives located and arrested her in Mount Vernon, Washington, on an outstanding warrant issued by Arkansas authorities,” stated the PAPD. “They transported her to the Clallam County Jail, where she remained in custody. Although charges in the David homicide were not filed at that time, Alcorn was later extradited to Arkansas and incarcerated for violating the conditions of her probation on an unrelated felony theft conviction.” A partnership between the PAPD and the Washington State Attorney General’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force helped to move the investigation forward. The suspect was booked into the Clallam County Jail by PAPD on June 9. She appeared in court on June 10, and remains in custody on $1 million bail. Her arraignment is scheduled for June 20.
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