We would like to welcome home all our community members and Telegraph Creek residents and wish everyone a happy New Year.
As of January 19th, we will be moving into the recovery stage of the wildfire response. This means that the Tahltan Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will be closing its doors in Dease Lake on January 19th and staff will return to their positions within the Band.
Tahltan Band programs and services will begin the transition from Dease Lake back to Telegraph Creek after January 21st. This is the date that the office cleaning is due to be completed. The time it takes for the Band Office to be up and fully functioning will depend on the what equipment, furniture and supplies need to be replaced.
Tahltan Band Council staff and council will be actively involved throughout the recovery stage. Derek Ingram, EOC Planning Lead, has been hired as the Recovery Manager and will be leading the disaster recovery planning process. The Recovery Manager is a shared position, between RDKS and the Tahltan Band. Derek will oversee and coordinate the development of community, environment and economic recovery planning. Trina-Anne Zubek will act as the Deputy Recovery Manager.
We would like to remind everyone that Tahltan Band staff have been equally impacted by the fire, the evacuation and return to community. We request your patience and understanding during this time of transition, while they are working hard to restore services, they may not always be available to assist when needed. The Band is focussed on restoring all services as quickly as possible but must take into consideration that our staff also need to move into and set up their homes.
TC Community Infrastructure Updates – Re-Opening and Cleaning
The TC Post Office will re-open in the Tahltan Centre starting on January 21st.
Cleaning of the Safehouse is scheduled for completion on the 21st of January, with services resuming pending equipment and furniture needs.
The cleaning of the community centre will be finished by the end of next week (January 25th).
ServiceMaster will have completed the cleaning portion of their contract and the camp will be demobilized by mid February, they will come back to finish any exterior work once spring arrives in TC.
TC Services
BC Hydro bills are to be turned over to Melva or Safehouse support staff, they will forward to BC Hydro.
If anyone has questions, concerns or requires further information please call Shana Dennis, Tahltan Band Manager at (250) 771-5050.
All other information and updates relating to recovery will be published on the Tahltan Band Council website on the Telegraph Creek Wildfire page (www.tahltan.ca/tcwildfires).